MDDA & SABC Board appointments finalised; Gauteng and Eastern Cape Oversight Visit Committee Reports

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Communications and Digital Technologies

11 March 2014
Chairperson: Mr S Kholwane (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee could not reach consensus so took a vote and recommended that Mr Jimmy Manyi replace the outgoing board member on the MDDA Board and Ms Leah Khumalo fill the vacant position on the SABC Board. The Gauteng and Eastern Cape Oversight Visit Committee Reports were adopted.

Meeting report

The Committee called in one of the Committee Section managers to ask why the Committee Section had not organised the timely electronic delivery of meeting documents to Members on behalf of their Committee Secretary who was ill. The Committee Legacy Report would not be discussed as Members needed time to consider the report.

Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Board member recommendation
Ms M Shinn (DA) said that after the five people were interviewed there were two preferred candidates that were common to all the political parties. These were Dr Adele Moodley and Ms Nokuzola Ehrens. She proposed that as a Committee they should focus on these two candidates.

Ms M Lesoma asked if they had agreed that would be the approach they would take because she was not part of the short listing of candidates.

The Chairperson said what Ms Shinn was saying was that she was suggesting they approach it that way.

Mr C Kekana (ANC) said that if those two candidates had commonalities amongst the political parties, it made sense to approach it that way but if any other party wanted to add another name, it could do so.

Ms Z Ndlazi said that she thought each party should raise a name it preferred from the interviews.

Ms Lesoma said that in order to assist the process she would add the names of Mr Jimmy Manyi and Ms Xoliswa Daku.

The Chairperson said that in the interviews process, they had interviewed Dr Adele Moodley, Mr Ratha Ramatlhape, Ms Nokuzola Ehrens, Ms Xoliswa Daku, and Mr Jimmy Manyi. They needed to engage on those names so that they chose one out of the five candidates.

Ms Shinn said that her preferred candidate was Dr Moodley because she was the best of the five candidates and had a lot of experience dealing with development at community level; she was highly qualified in business administration and she had worked in rural areas understanding the market at which community media was aimed and had done capacity-building at the organisations she had worked at, which was a key issue in community media. She also has good ideas on funding community media and was above all the other candidates.

Mr Kekana requested that the ANC should have a ten-minute caucus which would save a lot of time in terms of deliberating on the name.

The Chairperson said that they should break for five minutes to allow the ANC to caucus.
 

Short break for a caucus

After the meeting resumed, Ms Lesoma thanked the Chairperson for allowing the ANC to caucus. She said that as ANC they were recommending that Mr Jimmy Manyi be the Member of the MDDA Board because of his performance in terms of the interview and his vast experience in the industry and government as a whole.

Ms Shinn said that Mr Jimmy Manyi was the most unsuitable candidate for the position. He was not a person who had worked at on-the-ground structures. He was a high-end corporate man, and he would not have empathy with people on the ground. His track record in government had not been commendable and, as the DA, they would not support that recommendation.

Ms Shinn requested that they vote for Dr Moodley or Mr Manyi.

The Chairperson open the matter for a vote which the ANC won with five votes against the two DA votes.

The Committee therefore recommended the name of Mr Jimmy Manyi to serve on the MDDA Board.

The Chairperson read out the Committee Report: “The Portfolio Committee on Communications having considered the request from the Minister in the Presidency for Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, as well as the Administration to the National Assembly to recommend a candidate in terms of section 4 of the MDDA Act of 2002, to fill a vacancy that has arose due to expiry of the term of Ms Nothando Migogo as a Member of the MDDA Board on the 31 December 2013, referred to it for consideration and report as it appeared in the ATC of 23 of January 2014.

The Committee invited the public to nominate a person for consideration and recommendation to the President for appointment to the Board by means of advertisement in the print media. The Committee received 19 nominations and subsequently shortlisted the following five candidates: Dr Adele Moodley, Mr Ratha Ramatlhape, Ms Nokuzola Ehrens, Ms Xoliswa Daku, and Mr Jimmy Manyi.

The Committee interviewed the above candidates on the 06 and 07 March 2014 in an open meeting at Parliament. The Committee today deliberated on the matter and recommended that Mr Jimmy Manyi fill the vacancy on the MDDA Board”.

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Board member recommendation
The Chairperson read out the report as follows: “The Portfolio Committee on Communications having considered the request by the President of the Republic to the National Assembly to recommend a candidate in accordance with the provisions of the Broadcasting Act of 1999 to fill the vacancy of the unexpired portion of the period for the vacating member, has been appointed.

The Committee invited the public to nominate a person for consideration and recommendation to the President for appointment to the Board by means of advertisement in the print media.

The Committee received 11 nominations and subsequently shortlisted the following 5 candidates: Ms Ntombenhle Khathwane, Mr Chose Choeu, Ms Vuyelwa Qinga-Vika, Ms Leah Khumalo, and Mr Rammutlana Sekgale

The Committee interviewed the above candidates on the 04 March 2014 in an open meeting at Parliament”.

Ms Lesoma said that as the ANC they recommend the name of Ms Leah Khumalo because it was logical and proper to replace a female with a female. Secondly, her legal background would assist the SABC with good corporate governance, compliance, etc. They strongly believe that she could add value and she was at an age where she would be thinking outside the box. Thirdly, her Sentech experience would come in handy and most of all was how she performed at the interview.

Ms Shinn said that she would recommend Ms Khathwane because she came across very well in the interview. She was confident and independent-minded which the SABC Board needed since SABC Board members were acting like sheep at the moment. She had some exposure in her working life and understood the working environment, she had worked at local government level, and she brought some corporate experience to the Board.

Mr Kekana supported the name of Ms Khumalo because in interviews they get good people which made it difficult to choose one but in this instance his first choice would be Ms Khumalo.

The Chairperson said that both parties were motivating for young women which was a good thing for the country in terms of gender progress.

The Chairperson opened the matter for a vote between Ms Khumalo and Ms Khathwane.

Ms Shinn said that they wanted to reserve their position so that they could consult their caucus and would reveal their position in the House when the report was being tabled.

Ms Lesoma moved for the adoption of the report.

Ms Ndlazi seconded the move.
The Committee therefore recommended the name of Ms Leah Khumalo to serve on the SABC Board. The DA reserved their position on that matter.

Ms Shinn said that they would be making a declaration on both reports in the House.

The Chairperson thanked Members for their deliberations. He emphasised that all parties could make their declarations in the House if they choose to do so.

Committee Minutes: adoption
The minutes of 25, 26, 27 February and 4, 7 March 2014 were adopted with amendments.
 
Mr Kekana asked if his name was unduly omitted in the minutes. He asked how that could be corrected since he had tendered an apology due to having to attend another Committee meeting, and Parliament was becoming very strict in terms of attendance.

The Chairperson said he was not sure if it was human error. He noted that the Legacy Report would be accompanied by what was called the Master Attendance Register. All the minutes would be aligned to the Master Attendance Register moving forward.

Committee Report on Oversight Visit Report to Gauteng, 19 - 22 June 2012
The Committee discussed the recommendation that was made at the end of the 18 June meeting on print media transformation, that the GCIS and MDDA should work with the industry on the road map towards the establishment of the Print Media Charter. Thereafter, the Committee adopted the report.

Committee Report on Oversight Visit Report to Eastern Cape, 28 January - 01 February 2013
The Committee adopted the report.

Committee Legacy Report
The Chairperson informed the Committee that the House Chair had stated that the Legacy Report should be finalised and adopted before 13 March which was Thursday of that week.

The Committee agreed to defer the consideration and adoption of the Legacy Report until the next day because it was a lengthy report and as already discussed, it was sent to Members very late.

The meeting was adjourned.

Apologies: Ms R Morutoa, Ms F Muthambi, and Ms L Van der Merwe.
 

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