Following much anticipation that the ruling ANC party would pass a motion of no confidence in the board members of public broadcaster SABC, the event failed to come to pass. The board has been at loggerheads with both the parliamentary portfolio committee and the SABC Group CEO, Dali Mpofu, who was suspended by the board and then later re-instated following a High Court hearing.
At a parliamentary meeting on 22 May, the ruling ANC party did not ask the National Assembly to adopt a motion of no confidence in the board, reportedly because doing so would have caused a direct clash with President Thabo Mbeki.
It has been widely speculated throughout the last few weeks of tribulation at the SABC, which have played out much like a soap opera, that all the broadcaster’s current woes are the result of contrasting allegiances of certain SABC top management and board members to different factions of the ANC. (Source: Business Day)
