The deteriorating state of corporate governance and leadership that plague the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and Sentech have forced Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications to finally step in and demand an explanation from the two boards.
The SABC has been requested to appear before the committee on 24 August. Committee chairperson Ismail Vadi says that the decision to call in the entire board has been prompted by an apparent corporate governance crisis.
He notes that the SABC board will be expected to provide a revised turnaround strategy; explain the functionality of the board; and account for the controversy relating to the appointment of Phil Molefe as head of News and Current Affairs.
Sentech will appear before the committee on 31 August to present its revised strategic plan and to report on the resignation and suspension of its senior executive management team. Industry, which has been kept in the dark regarding the leadership void at Sentech, is likely to welcome Parliament's intervention.
Sentech forced to answer
Media reports have indicated that Sentech is without a CEO, after acting CEO Beverly Ngwenya resigned during the week after disciplinary charges that included gross negligence and reckless spending were filed against her and CFO Mohammed Cassim.
However, these moves could not be officially confirmed, as - despite numerous engagements with Sentech head of corporate communications Polly Modiko - ITWeb has not been able to establish whether the reports were accurate, and if there was a way forward for the parastatal.
Problem child
Sentech has been plagued by financial woes and weak leadership for several years, and a new board was installed in April to reposition the state-owned entity. On 1 April, Sentech issued a statement welcoming the new board.
The directors were appointed for a period of three years, after the sudden resignation of CEO Sebiletso Mokone-Matabane, who left amid a highly-controversial report damning the state-owned business's leadership struggles. Her tenure at the company was expected to last another six months.
Mokone-Matabane is the latest senior executive to leave the state-owned enterprise, as Yvonne Muthien, Deenadayalen Konar and Tau Mashigo all resigned from the board since the start of the year.
A recent report submitted to the Department of Communications found the leadership of the company “weak” and the company itself in a “financially thorny position”, and recommended that it needed to be turned around urgently. National Treasury officials have referred to Sentech as government's “trouble child”.
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