Chairperson, Deputy President, Ministers present, guests and Members of Parliament, on behalf of the committee I would like to take this opportunity to thank both my predecessor, the hon Ishmael Vadi, and Miss Alma Nel, the then committee secretary, who were both instrumental in laying a good foundation for this process of the appointment of the SABC board.
These vacancies came about as the result of the resignation of four members. I am sure all members in this House are aware of that. On behalf of the committee I would like, again, to thank the four members who resigned from the SABC board for availing themselves to serve on the board, even though their services were short-lived. Furthermore, we must appreciate their professional conduct during their tenure and after their resignation.
Broadcasting in the context of any state, more especially a developmental one such as ours, will always be contested terrain. To believe otherwise would reflect a lack of integrity in dealing with this complex matter.
The request to fill four vacancies at the SABC was received by the committee. Accordingly, we called for the public to give nominations for the board in terms of the Broadcasting Act of 1999. The deadline for the first nomination was 15 November 2010. However, we had to extend the deadline after a request from the Save our SABC Coalition, which was accepted by the committee. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the decision of the Save our SABC Coalition to suspend their call for the boycott of the nomination process. We received 84 nominations, and on 13 January 2011 the committee agreed to shortlist 14 candidates who were interviewed on 18 January, 19 January and 20 January 2011.
In terms of the nominations, there was not a single nomination received from any political party. However, during the interview process some of the candidates revealed their political affiliations. That was due to the questions posed by members of the committee to those particular candidates.
It is my considered view that all the parties in the committee understand the role of the public broadcaster and its significant role in a developmental state, hence the maturity they displayed throughout the process.
To this effect, I would agree with the hon Michael from the DA who has been quoted in the newspaper The New Age as saying, and I quote: "We wish the board members well and we guarantee them our support. This particular round of nominations was done professionally."
On 1 March 2011 the committee deliberated on the 14 interviewed candidates to select the four persons to serve on the SABC board. By now you are all aware in the House that the committee could not reach consensus on this matter.
The democratic process in terms of the Rules of the House, in particular of the the National Assembly, was employed to select the four candidates. The committee therefore resolved that the House, in accordance with the Broadcasting Act, Act 4 of 1999, recommend to the President that the following candidates be appointed to the SABC board, namely Dr Sethe Patricia Makhesha, Mr John Sembie Danana, Advocate Cawekazi Benedicta Mahlati and Mr Lumko Mtinde. I thank you. [Applause.]