Deputy Speaker, the SABC recently came into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. As Mr Vadi indicated, there were serious cash shortages, reckless expenditure on extravagant functions, unlimited petrol cards, transgressions of tender regulations, insider trading - in general, a plundering of public resources for personal gain.
In short, there was gross mismanagement through a lethal mix of reckless arrogance, incompetence and individual greed. As a result, not only does the public broadcaster find itself in dire financial straits, but, as indicated by the Minister of Arts and Culture last week, the resulting financial chaos also bankrupted 80% of local film producers who closed their doors owing to payment defaults by the SABC. This is a direct loss of job opportunities in an already depressed economy.
The recently published Auditor-General report vindicated the position of Cope and members of the previous board. It fingers senior management, some of whom have since left the organisation with a platinum handshake and others who are still there. South Africa is now anxiously waiting for the outcomes of criminal and civil proceedings, as well as disciplinary processes within the organisation. Cope will insist that the law takes its course and that we have full transparency of the process.
The impact of the SABC saga will, however, remain for many years to come as an indictable heritage of brutal political power play in the governing alliance that chose to frustrate the previous board rather than to act on their early warnings of budget shortfalls and irregularities.
Instead, the post-Polokwane ANC went out of their way to collapse the now defunct board in order to replace it with a team that would dance to the tune of Umshini Wami. [Interjections.] Because the ANC fails to understand the difference between a party, a state and independent institutions such as the SABC, they decided to again micromanage the entire process - from nomination through to final appointment - with direct instructions from Luthuli House.
While opposition parties trusted South Africans to nominate candidates for the board, the SACP-led ruling party filibustered sincere attempts on our part to conduct an arms-length process which would have been fully inclusive. Their preferred cadres were nominated from Luthuli House, Tuynhuys, Cosatu House and SACP headquarters. And owing to the slumbering turf wars in the governing alliance, every faction had to be represented, presumably to watch over each other. Even Julius Malema had his personal hand puppet. [Interjections.]