Shockwaves buffet SABC following CEO's resignation

The resignation yesterday of the man seen by many critics as SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s editorial lapdog and indications of growing defiance among the national broadcaster’s editorial staff have raised the stakes in the battle against the so-called ‘capture’ of the SABC by President Jacob Zuma, notes Legalbrief. SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) has commended acting CEO Jimi Matthews on his resignation. In his resignation letter, which he posted on Twitter, he admitted to being ‘complicit in many decisions which I am not proud of’. He added: ‘For many months I have compromised the values I hold dear under the mistaken belief that I could be more effective inside the SABC than outside‚ passing comment from the sidelines. In the process, the prevailing‚ corrosive atmosphere has impacted negatively on my moral judgment and has made me complicit in many decisions, which I am not proud of,’ he wrote, according to a TimesLIVE report. Matthews said what was happening at the SABC was wrong and he could no longer be part of it. ‘Matthews was at least on paper the most senior official of the corporation. That he feels there is a corrosive atmosphere that he as the CEO cannot do anything about speaks volumes about corporate governance within the SABC,’ Sanef members said in a statement. ‘The SABC is an asset of the SA public as a whole and that it is being turned into a state broadcaster that only serves the interests of the ruling party is wrong and must be condemned.’

– TimesLIVE