Dr Ben Ngubane, the former minister of arts & culture in Nelson Mandela’s first democratic cabinet, must have the worst luck when positions in state-owned companies are being doled out.Ngubane, for his sins, ended up as chairman of the SABC between 2010 and 2013, where he had the rare misfortune of overseeing the serial missteps of Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the broadcaster’s chief operating officer (COO).During that time, Ngubane contorted himself into ever-more implausible positions as he sought to excuse Motsoeneng’s lies over his qualifications and his blunt management style, arguing that “in a COO, you are not looking for a theoretician”. Eventually, having overcome a revolt from his own board, Ngubane quit the SABC.It was partly because of Ngubane’s lacklustre performance at the SABC that there was such a strong “push back” from within the ruling party against appointing him chairman of the ailing Eskom in late 2014. Lynne Brown, for one, argued against Ngubane’s appointment at Eskom....
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