EDITORIAL: Her master’s voice
SABC report constitutes a measure of Parliament’s reawakening
Seldom, if ever, has a parliamentary committee recommended that a sitting minister get the boot. The minister in this case is Communications Minister Faith Muthambi. The report is consequent on the extensive hearings held by Parliament last year and early this year on the extended SABC saga. The saga itself is now a matter of public record, but is emblematic of the same sort of problems encountered in any number of other state-owned enterprises: the appointment of people selected not for their skill and knowledge, but for their loyalty to the ANC in general and the president in particular. These appointees then systematically impose irrational and financially dubious notions about how the organisations should be run, which become in the process a public laughing stock, a financial failure and an imposition on the public purse. We all know this story by now. Yet the SABC differs in some important respects, partly because it holds an explicit public mandate and partly because it struc...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.