It’s back to the drawing board for the Film and Publication Board (FPB) as it once again looks to fill the chief executive officer spot after the resignation of advocate Norman Gidi.
Communications minister Solly Malatsi confirmed to ITWeb that Gidi resigned from his position as FPB CEO after three months.
Gidi was announced as the person that will take on the role of CEO at the FPB on 10 December, appointed on a five-year fixed-term contract. He started his role on 12 January.
However, he has since left the post after he “accepted a job offer made to him shortly after he accepted the [FPB] CEO position,” says Malatsi.
As a result, the minister agreed to the board’s request to appoint advocate Makhosazana Lindhorst as acting CEO.
The approval for the acting CEO, according to Malatsi, is for a three-month period, with the condition that the board immediately initiates the process to fill the vacancy as a matter of priority.
“Mr Gidi’s decision to vacate his post so soon after his appointment reflects the individual’s personal choices, not a flaw in our approach to filling leadership gaps.
“We remain committed to appointing competent, ethical leaders to critical positions within the portfolio.”
Part of the 11 entities under the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies portfolio, the FPB is the official content-classification authority for films, games and certain publications.
It is also mandated to be digital content regulator and educator for certain online content, in line with the Films and Publications Amendment Act that came into operation on 1 March 2022.
The Act seeks to modernise laws that protect the South African public from exposure to prohibited content distributed online, as well as ensuring children are not exposed to harmful digital content.
When he took over as FPB CEO, Gidi assumed the role after the entity had faced a rocky time, with allegations levelled against its former permanent CEO.
Gidi has been described as tenured in providing legal advice to both the South African government and the ICT regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
He first joined ICASA in August 2009 as a senior manager for licensing. In September 2022, Gidi served as acting CEO of ICASA.
Gidi has also held several positions at the authority, including general manager for licensing; executive: legal, risk and complaints and compliance committee in 2017; and, latterly, executive: policy research and analysis from 2021.
He is an admitted advocate of the High Court since 2009 and holds the degree of Master of Laws (University of the Witwatersrand), and has completed various leadership programmes, including the Spider Capacity Building on ICT Regulation, Policy and Practice (Stockholm University) and the Leaders in Development Programme (Harvard Kennedy School).
Gidi has not updated his LinkedIn profile and the FPB has not updated the executive team details listed on the divisional section of its website.
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