The Congress of the People (COPE) has learned that the newly appointed CEO of the SABC, Mr Solly Mokoetle who was appointed by the Minister of communications, Mr Siphiwe Nyanda, was subjected to a disciplinary process when he was the COO at the corporation.
Not only this, it was recommended that due to the nature of the charges he was found guilty of, Mr Mokoetle be criminally charged. Despite this, the Minister has seen fit to appoint this person as CEO of the SABC.
COPE calls on the board of the SABC to reveal to the public the nature of the charges Mr Mokoetle was found guilty of and for the Minister to explain to the public how he came to this decision. Given the Transnet scandal involving a company that the Minister is a shareholder in, we have every reason to believe that there is more to this decision than meets the eye.
It appears that even in a new year, despite the lessons learned in 2009, the ruling party is still hell-bent on controlling every aspect of parastatals by appointing CEO’s by patronage rather than along the lines of competency and established practices of good corporate governance.
The work done by the interim SABC board in steering the lumbering ship away from financial icebergs is very quickly being unraveled by what appears to be further cadre deployment. COPE anticipates another boardroom battle because of this appointment.
