Madonsela to start new probe of SABC goings-on

The investigation will consider the process of the appointment, including the job description, the qualifications required, the advertising of the post both internally and externally, and how the SABC board came to its decision. Madonsela wrote to Communications Minister Faith Muthambi yesterday to tell her of her intention to start a fresh investigation. Madonsela reportedly told Business Day she had decided to go ahead with an investigation instead of calling Muthambi and the SABC board to account for their decision to make Motsoeneng's appointment permanent. 'The new investigation would also need to take into account why the decision was taken without having completed the previous process,' she said. Madonsela released her SABC report, titled 'When Governance and Ethics Fail', in February. She found Motsoeneng had falsified his qualifications by saying that he had matric, and that his salary progression was irregular, as he received three hikes in a year, increasing it to R2.4m from R1.5m, and that this constituted improper conduct and maladministration. Full Business Day report (subscription needed)

Muthambi claimed yesterday she had no reason not to confirm Motsoeneng's appointment after a law firm report cleared him of wrongdoing. The law firm had been hired to look into the Public Protector's report on Motsoeneng. However, Muthambi refused to name the firm, notes a Mail & Guardian report, which points out that, by law, the Public Protector's findings can only be reviewed and set aside by a court of law. Muthambi said she considered the following when making her decision: The Public Protector report; a report by an independent law firm appointed by the SABC; Motsoeneng's record as acting chief operating officer, and when he acted as deputy chief executive; the Broadcasting Act; the shareholder compact; and the broadcaster's articles of association. She added the SABC's decision to appoint an independent, credible and principled law firm to investigate all the issues raised by the Public Protector 'was the responsible way' of dealing with the Public Protector's report. Full Mail & Guardian report

However, Madonsela described the findings of the law firm as 'shocking' and said she hoped the Minister had been misquoted. 'If someone doesn't like the finding of an investigation, they can't just go and appoint someone else and then say they got a different opinion. The Public Protector's office is a Chapter Nine institution,' she is quoted as saying in a Business Day report. Madonsela said she was still waiting for SABC board chair Zandile Tshabalala to give an implementation plan on the findings of the report. 'She was supposed to do that within 30 days and now, five months later, I am still awaiting that simple plan. She has written several times asking for extensions,' she said. Full Business Day report (subscription needed)

The appointment was neither rational nor procedural and should be declared invalid, according to a former member of the corporation's board. A Cape Times report says the former board member, who has intimate knowledge of governance rules and processes at the SABC, said the appointment was 'doubly illegal' as the job was not advertised as required by statute, and carried out in contravention of the Public Protector's recommendations. 'The appointment would be declared invalid if taken to court,' he reportedly told the paper.The source added that the appointment should have been taken before the Cabinet for ratification, in line with established practice for appointing senior executive directors of the SABC. 'Precedent under all previous Ministers is that it goes to (the) Cabinet. Under Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, the board at the time recommended the appointment of Mvuzo Mbebe. Ivy declined to take it to the Cabinet and the whole thing went to court and in fact Mvuzo has prevented the appointment of a permanent COO since then, not because Ivy refused to appoint him, but because she refused to take it to the Cabinet,' he is quoted as saying. Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)

However, claims that the appointment was irregular because the post had not been advertised were dismissed by SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago, who, according to The Star, reportedly claimed not all posts needed to be advertised. 'He was a consideration by the board and if anyone finds this appointment to be irregular, that is their own view. We don't dispute that people have their own views with regards to this issue,' he said. However, the source reportedly said all senior management posts at the public broadcaster must be advertised, candidates short-listed and interviewed. The preferred candidate's name would also need to be given to the Minister of Communications and the Cabinet had to discuss it. Full report in The Star

It turns out Motsoeneng not only does not have a matric, but a diploma he appears to have obtained from an American institution is not recognised in SA, says a report in The Mercury. The SA Qualifications Authority has investigated a claim that Motsoeneng obtained a diploma in Christian Fellowship from the Emmanuel Christian Seminary and concluded that the institution's programme was 'not certificated under the SA dispensation'.It was reported in April that Motsoeneng had been ordained as a priest and awarded a diploma in Christian Fellowship at an external graduation ceremony at the University of the Free State. The report said the diploma was from the Emmanuel Christian Seminary. A letter from the SA Qualifications Authority's chief executive states that they had undertaken several investigations into the diploma and the institution that awarded it. Chief executive Joe Samuels said the 'diploma in Christian Fellowship' was an unknown qualification here. 'Motsoeneng is not certificated under the SA dispensation,' he is quoted as saying. Full report in The Mercury (subscription needed)