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SOS on Comms Minister and SABC COO saga

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:44

The SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition notes the intervention of the Minister of Communications to ensure the integrity of the appointment of the South African Broadcasting Corporation's (SABC) Chief Operating Officer (COO).

The Coalition is happy to hear that the appointment process will be re-started to ensure that applicants have sufficient time to apply and that the post will be advertised both internally and externally to ensure that a wide pool of applicants are sourced. The Coalition has long campaigned for good corporate governance, sound human resource and labour practices to be implemented and enforced at our public broadcaster.

However, the Coalition is concerned that the Minister has had to intervene to ensure the integrity of the appointment process is safeguarded. In terms of international best practice, the Board should oversee appointments without any intervention from the Minister.

The SOS Coalition calls on the SABC Board and CEO to drive this process, to ensure that due process is followed and that the best candidate is selected to fill this very important position.

The SOS Coalition represents a number of trade unions including COSATU, COSATU affiliates CWU and CWUSA, FEDUSA, BEMAWU and MWASA; independent film and TV production sector organisations including the South African Screen Federation (SASFED); and a host of NGOs and CBOs including the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-SA); as well as a number of academics and freedom of expression activists.

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