Sisulu Report: briefing by SA Broadcasting Corporation & Premier Soccer League

Meeting report

SABC Presentation
Ms Gloria Serobe, Chairperson of the Board, and Adv Dali Mpofu, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), SABC, gave a presentation focusing on progress made on the Sisulu Commission Report and the labour relations matters.

It was noted that in July 2006 the GCEO appointed the Commission and drafted the terms of reference, which covered issues pertaining to the alleged existence of a “blacklist”, perceived or real low morale within News and Current Affairs divisions and international best practice. The Commission found that it was perfectly permissible for the SABC to have in place a policy that dealt with the selection and utilisation of commentators and analysts. The SABC had a duty to screen people as authentic experts. On the labour relation matters, the GCEO conducted an inquiry and found that there were no discernible merits to the accusations, and some disgruntled employees had disguised labour relations issues as part of broader political issues.

Mr Peter Mancer, Diversity and Management, Premier Soccer League (PSL), and Ms Mato Madlala, Executive, PSL touched on the issue of radio rights and said that PSL had granted SABC interim radio rights in respect of all soccer matches, covering the current period. They noted that the permanent rights were still under negotiation with clubs. On the television rights for soccer matches, the SABC, Supersport and PSL had signed a tripartite agreement. The SABC had been given the right to broadcast 143 games.

Discussion
Ms I Mars (IFP) said that the Sea Point issue had been of concern for some time. There had been very serious allegations and concerns that were quickly dismissed by the SABC, who stated that the issue was just a case of disgruntled employees voicing their dissatisfaction. There may be political overtones regarding the matter, however these issues dealt with management matters. The SABC should comment on what was being done to address the matter. On human capital, the Committee needed clarity whether specific board members had been allocated to look at certain key issues.

Ms D Smuts (DA) asked whether the new board would follow through the recommendations of the Sisulu report. Many SABC journalists had always complained of the managerial style of Jeffrey Twala, who had been accused of spinning stories that looked favourably on the ANC.

Mr R Pieterse (ANC) asked whether transformation was taking place at Afrikaans radio stations. Issues of favouritism must be dealt with, otherwise the current perceptions would not go away.

The Chairperson noted that slide 19 indicated that the SABC had evaluated the merits of the allegations. Clarity should be given as to whether a team was tasked with the investigations, and the exact procedures that had been followed.

Mr E Kholwane (ANC) asked whether the matters were labour related, as opposed to political matters.

Mr Mpofu replied that he had personally dealt with the issues, and the issues did not fall within the realm of the Sisulu commission. There was no attempt to belittle the Sisulu commission; however there were channels available that dealt with labour relation issues.  In terms of what would be done, he said that there was a need to isolate the issues individually in order to determine whether they were labour relations or political.

Ms Serobe added that the matter had been placed before the new Human Resource Committee of the board. All the labour relations issues, including the transformation issue, had been raised in the board meetings.

Mr K Khumalo (ANC) noted that one of the findings of the Sisulu Commission was that a group executive at the SABC had decided to exclude key political commentators. The SABC had promised to take action at the time, and a number of recommendations were made by the Commission. However it seemed as if no action had been taken against Dr Zikalala. He believed that it was unacceptable for a group executive of the SABC to blacklist political commentators. A public broadcaster should not be used to advance narrow political propaganda. The Committee was still unsure whether the board believed that Dr Zikalala’s decision was right or wrong. It was unfortunate that Ms Serobe came to the SABC at a very difficult stage, as it would be sad to see a woman of high stature having her reputation ruined by the internal politics of the SABC.

Ms Smuts agreed with Mr Khumalo and said that it would be a good idea to review the decisions taken by the SABC board. On the issue of Dr Zikalala, the Committee was merely concerned that he had essentially received a slap on the wrist for his actions and that the problems had still not been dealt with. There was also the issue of the political editor of the SABC, who went behind closed doors and invited an important yet controversial figure to attend a meeting of black journalists only. This raised several questions and it was not very healthy. If Dr Zikalala was disciplined properly and firmly dealt with then these issues would not have arisen. Clarity should be provided on why the SABC had approached Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), on a case relating to the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI). She also asked for a specific answer whether the SABC accepted the findings of the Sisulu report. 

Mr Kholwane added that the actions taken against Dr Zikalala were inappropriate. It was not appropriate for an individual to deliberately divert from policy and then be sent for counselling. The SABC did what they had to do, but the counselling was an indication that the SABC did not take the public seriously.

Mr Pieterse said that there needed to be time frames as to when the issues raised would be implemented.

Ms Mars asked whether the board believed that SABC was fully representative of black journalists. She referred to a publication in which Mr Mpofu was quoted as saying that whites wanted to determine the agenda of the SABC, and they made him ill.

Ms Serobe replied the role of the board was to ensure that there were policies in place, and the board was satisfied with those policies. The implementation of the policies was another matter. The issue that came out of the Sisulu Commission was that there were no guidelines that would assist management in the implementation of policies. There were policies as far as the board was concerned, but gaps in the policies needed to be dealt with through a consultative process, and it was up to management to address the matter.

Mr Mpofu responded that the publication was a complete fabrication of what was actually said. Any political party that took the rantings of the author seriously had themselves to blame as the author was a self styled pseudo-intellectual. Some of the concerns raised were quite valid.

Insofar as Dr Zikalala was concerned, action was taken and it involved counselling. The counselling did not mean that Dr Zikalala was let off lightly, but was a technical term to describe corrective action taken as prescribed by the regulations of the SABC. There was a verbal warning that was given, which was prescribed.  There was no finding on whether there was a deviation from policy in the Sisulu Commission; therefore the issue of the weight of the punishment should be placed against what were the findings of the Commission.

In respect of the FXI case, the SABC had problems with some of the findings. Since the SABC was the architect of the Commission and drew the terms of reference, therefore SABC had the right to make a point as the commissioners went beyond the terms of reference. The board was happy with the representation of journalists in the news-rooms. In respect of political editor Abie Makwe, the SABC was not responsible for what employees did in their private capacity.

Ms L Yengeni (ANC) asked why Mr Mpofu was not admitting that Dr Zikalala’s actions were deliberate. Clarity should be provided on the verbal warning, and what was the context of that verbal warning. After the SABC had taken the disciplinary steps, she asked if it believed that Dr Zikalala had changed.

Ms Yengeni pointed out that during the Polokwane conference many people were complaining about not hearing President Jacob Zuma clearly, and the same was true of his speech on 08 January. SABC should comment what the problem was.

Ms Yengeni said, on the issue of the black management forum, that the President of the ANC was invited to the meeting and there was no problem with that.

Mr L Nxumalo (ANC) referred to clause 6 of the presentation and asked the SABC to comment on how far it had gone in implementing the recommendations. There had also been allegations that Mr Mpofu and Mr Zikalala threatened to resign “if the monkey Jacob Zuma” was elected President of the ANC. He asked about those comments.

Mr Kholwane stated that the Chairperson had made reference to paragraph 7.1 on pg 54 of the report. It stated that there were guidelines that were implemented that were not approved by the board. It was understood that a process had been undertaken to address the matter, however the decision to send the individual to counselling was not a good decision.

Ms Smuts said that the GCEO tried to convince the Committee that the Sisulu report had said that there was nothing wrong with having a policy. There was no policy, and it was one of the findings. It was only after the matter came to light that something was quickly assembled. IN relation to Abie Makwe, Mr Makwe was a journalist and a political editor of the SABC and he should be not be involving himself with an organisation that was in direct conflict with his position. The report also found that the underlying issue was the exclusion of certain individuals and whether terminology used such as blacklisting was beside the point.

Mr Khumalo commented that the Forum for Black Journalists had the right to exist. The issue of whether people should belong to exclusionary groups was another matter. However it was wrong to have a group that excluded individuals on the matter of race.

Mr Khumalo said, in respect of Dr Zikalala, the issue did not turn on whether action was to be taken against Dr Zikalala, but the issue was whether one could exclude an individual on the basis that he would attack the President. There was a perception that the SABC should use a broad spectrum of political analysts wider than the ones that had been always used.

Ms Serobe stressed that SABC had a policy of guests and commentators, and this was in the report. However what was seen to be lacking were the guidelines. At the time when the issues regarding the blacklisting came to the media’s attention, management was trying to develop a clear set of guidelines. The Board would like to appeal to the Committee. It was a new board, and had to carry the baggage of having been part of the previous board. The new team was engaging with the news staff and the editors. The News Committee had not sat, and it was difficult to answer some of the issues that had been raised.

**Ms Serobe stated that in respect of Dr Zikalala, the board accepted that there was dissatisfaction. However the decisions that were taken stood at the time, and it was up to the new committee to look into the matters and decide how to address them. The Board was also looking into applying all the recommendations of the Sisulu Commission and the SABC was hoping to close the matters pertaining to the Sisulu Commission.

Mr Mpofu added that when the allegations first came out, he had stressed that if allegations were true then they would constitute a serious breach of SABC’s policies. The matter was taken very seriously and there had been consultations with top legal consultants. The matter was taken to the head of the Board and it was recommended that the matter should be investigated. The SABC however did not anticipate the misinterpretations of those findings in the media and various circles. As far the counselling was concerned, the SABC dealt particularly with the management style, which was referred to in the guidelines of the recommendations.  The SABC took action because it was acknowledged that there had been some wrongdoing. The verbal warning was to give an indication that more serious action would be taken if matters did not improve, and to ensure that the issues did not occur again.   He noted that Dr Zikalala had changed; he did acknowledge that he had done wrong and changes in behaviour have been noted.

Mr Mpofu said that during the 8 January speech, it had transpired that there was a technical problem and a public announcement was issued.  The “monkey” statement was merely a rumour. This remark was a figment of imagination of the journalist and was a complete fabrication with no basis.

Ms Yengeni said that the Committee was fully aware that the Board was new, but the issues that were raised were not new.

Mr Pieterse said that radio had a higher penetration than television, and the people would be glad to know that soccer would be back on radio.

Mr Khumalo commented that the SABC should look into investing in accessible technology that would assist the blind.  Radio was a very important medium, which attracted close to 17 million people in South Africa, and many in the rural communities depended solely on radio. Therefore there should be some way to cater for those who depended on radio, so that they were not affected with SABC’s loss to the PSL.

Mr Pieterse asked whether there would be any renegotiation in respect of the soccer rights.

Ms Madlala replied out of the 16 clubs, there was a possibility that there would not be more than two that dropped out.  The negotiations would only take place with the two new clubs that would enter into the league.

The Chairperson said that the Sisulu matter had been concluded. The board had indicated that they were still investigating the matter and a written report would be sent to the Committee. The Committee appreciated the fact that the board was a new board and it would be incorrect to judge it on the basis of the previous board. The Committee however would like to see a sense of urgency, and a sharper focus and purpose around the governance of the board and policy direction.

The meeting was adjourned.