The South African Screen Federation (SASFED) would like to welcome Lulama Mokhobo as the new permanent Group Chief Executive Officer of SABC, replacing Phil Molefe who was the acting GCEO of the SABC and who had already replaced another interim leader Robin Nicholson.
Mokhobo was recommended by the SABC board and approved by Minister of Communications Dina Pule. SASFED is grateful that the public broadcaster finally has a permanent GCEO again, who will serve a five-year term. SASFED is pleased by the appointment of a woman to the helm of the SABC, and hopes she will offer some leadership and vision to the SABC, as well as better continuity and accountability.
Mokhobo is said to have a BA (humanities) and attended the University of Botswana and Swaziland and the State University of Utah (1987-1989), where she got a MSC (Instr Tech). She is also a trustee of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
Mokhobo shocked the mining industry last week by suddenly resigning with immediate effect as independent non-executive director and Chairperson of Miranda Minerals, a junior mining exploration company. This might seem obvious if she was taking up the SABC post, but it’s of concern to SASFED that she was one of four other directors who resigned as well, and that a court order halted a rights offer Miranda wanted to set in motion on the JSE, after the foreign majority shareholders in Miranda demanded repayment of their loans to the company.
Mokhobo had interactions with SAFSED and its affiliates as former SABC Group Exec for public broadcasting, where she served for nearly five years before resigning in June 2010. Prior to joining SABC in 2005, she ran the PR divisions of Eskom, SAPO, and Daimler Chrysler SA, and is a former CEO of Urban Brew Studios (set up by former SABC boss Zwelakhe Sisulu), and also worked on the start-up of the now defunct BopTV and used to be a director of e-TV. She was also the Chairperson of the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO) in 2005, which in turn is member of SASFED.
SASFED welcomes Mokohobo’s appointment, wishes her the best in setting the SABC on the path to transparent and independent Public Broadcasting, and urges her to seek a meeting with the independent industry as soon as possible so together we can normalise the public broadcasting sphere and provide high quality content to the public. SASFED heralds the fact that for the first time ever, a woman will head the SABC.
