Despite communications minister Solly Malatsi vehemently expressing intent to resolve governance and the leadership vacuum within the department’s entities, these challenges persist for the ICT-focused ministry.
Most notable among these is that leaders at some entities have been provisionally suspended, the entities sit with multiple vacancies at the exco level and there is no stability at board management level, to mention a few.
This was revealed when the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) recently briefed Parliament’s portfolio committee on issues relating to governance and the filling of vacancies in the entities.
Within the DCDT portfolio are 11 state-owned enterprises (SOEs): Broadband Infraco (BBI), Film and Publications Board, Independent Communications Authority of SA, NEMISA, Postbank, SABC, SA Post Office, Sentech, State IT Agency (SITA), Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) and .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA).
Out of the 11, only BBI has a fully constituted board, the executive fields have been filled, with no “burning governance issues” at this stage, said Omega Shelembe, DCDT deputy director general (DDG) of SOE oversight and ICT enterprise.
Filling vacancies
At Sentech, Shelembe told MPs that the key executive roles (CEO and CFO) have been filled, while the COO position is an acting incumbent. Although two more board members and a chairperson still need to be appointed.
“From a governance point of view…is the legal dispute between Sentech and SABC regarding the debt settlement, which remains unresolved between the two entities,” he said.
In the case of the SABC, the public broadcaster has a fully constituted board, which was appointed on 18 April 2023, on a five-year term.
“The executives, which are the executive director’s positions – the CEO and the COO – are filled on a five-year, fixed term contracts, while the CFO is still being recruited and is currently filled in an acting capacity,” according to the DDG.
Turning to Postbank, there are seven non-executive directors on the board who were appointed on a five-year term, with effect 3 March.
However, Postbank’s board still has two vacancies because the law provides that a maximum of nine executive directors may be appointed, he revealed.
“The appointment of two additional members is something that the department is doing to assist the minister to fill in the vacancies. The appointment of the board of the Postbank controlling company is underway. They are following the public and advertisements calling for nomination, and the minister has appointed a nomination committee to recommend the suitable candidates, as required by law.
“The executive directors, the CEO position is filled on a five-year contract, and the CFO has recently resigned and is serving a notice until 27 January 2026, so that post is now again open for recruitment.”
Embattled entity SAPO, which has been under business rescue for more than two years, is in the process of establishing a board, as the business rescue practitioners are readying their exit.
Once considered a key South African institution, mismanagement, staff retrenchments and inadequate investment in IT systems have brought the post office to its knees. The SOE has been in dire financial straits, and its once wide branch network has significantly shrunk over the years.
According to Shelembe, the process for a new SAPO board follows the advertisement calling for nominations, with the minister appointing a nominations committee that will select and recommend the suitable candidates to him.
“This committee has already met…to shortlist the potential candidates and will then provide recommendations to the minister. Subsequent to that, there will be a process of interviewing which is set to take place on the 9th and the 10th of December. Both the CEO and CFO positions are filled on an acting capacity, as well as the COO position, which is vacant.
“In terms of the memorandum of incorporation (MOI), when a public entity intends to fill in the positions, they need to submit to the minister or the shareholder the draft contracts of the executive directors that they will be advertising, so the draft contracts for the CEO, CFO and COO have been reviewed by the department’s legal services, and feedback is due to be provided to SAPO.
“On governance, the post office is under business rescue, and the business rescue practitioners have begun their exit steps.”
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[Caption 2] Solly Malatsi, minister of communications and digital technologies.
On SITA, Shelembe explained that an interim board was appointed with effect from 1 March, and a nominations committee was appointed and made its first recommendations to the minister.
However, the minister requested that the nomination committee increase its pool of recommended candidates, to find the best suitable candidates for the SITA board.
“The committee then met on the 3rd of November to consider other candidates, and the department is awaiting their direction for concluding the process. From the executive’s point of view, the MD position is filled in an acting capacity, but process to appoint the new MD has been finalised and submitted for the Cabinet’s concurrence.”
The DCDT official revealed the contract of SITA’s CFO came to an end in November, noting that a recruitment process is underway for a new CFO.
On governance, Shelembe highlighted the Public Service Commission(PSC) investigation at the request of the minister.
As part of the investigation, the PSC is looking into alleged governance lapses, leadership instability and infighting, mismanagement, and the absence of accountability in decision-making.
Shelembe explained: “An implementation agreement has been reached whereby the Public Service Commission has appointed a service provider to conduct the investigation under its supervision. The work commenced in November 2025.
“Also, from a governance point of view, the SITA MOI needs to be amended and updated, particularly to give effect to revisions to the provision relating to the appointment of an executive caretaker.”
Interim fixes
With respect to NEMISA, Shelembe indicated that the board was appointed on 25 October 2024 on a three-year term.
However, there have since been two resignations in July and September, which the department is seized with, he added.
“At the executive level, both the CEO and CFO positions are filled, but the CEO’s contract came to an end on 30 September 2025, and it has been reappointed for six months, pending the completion of an investigation that is currently underway.
“On the governance side, the ministry and the department received the protected disclosure in October 2025 on governance breaches and allegations of misconduct raised against the CEO and the minister has requested the board to investigate the allegations within three months and submit a report within 14 days of finalising that report.”
Similarly, at ZADNA, the incumbent CEO has been placed on a precautionary suspension, he revealed, adding that an acting CEO has subsequently been appointed.
“With regard to governance issues, there was a forensic investigation commissioned regarding the remuneration of the ZADNA board after receiving a complaint that the chairperson was overpaid. The minister has received the final report on the forensic investigation, and the recommendations of the report are being analysed and are yet to be implemented.
“There has also been report alleging some transgressions by the CEO and the board has commissioned an investigation into the allegations presented against the CEO and suspended him.
“An update was provided to the minister to initiate a disciplinary process. However, following that, the minister has received a letter from the board on its intention to conclude a separation agreement with the CEO. We are currently assessing the documents received to provide a recommendation to the minister on this matter.”
USAASA also has an interim board, following a sudden resignation of the board. “The process of appointing a new board is underway, having advertised and called for nominations of board members. On the executive front, the CEO position is filled in an acting capacity, whilst the CFO position was filled on 3 February.
“On the governance side, there is a forensic investigation of irregularities involving a member of the USAASA board and the CEO appointment process. The report was submitted to the minister and the implicated board member has been granted an opportunity to respond to the report, which he has duly done. The department is in the process of analysing the above submission to the minister for implementing the report recommendations.”
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