13 March 2023, SABC News
President Cyril Ramaphosa has denied that he failed to appoint the SABC board. Responding to Media Monitoring Africa’s urgent court application which seeks to declare his conduct unlawful and unconstitutional for failing to appoint the board, Ramaphosa said the delay is due to unlawful decisions by parliament’s portfolio committee, and he had to refer the matter back to the National Assembly. A letter by parliament’s communications portfolio committee chair Boyce Maneli to National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula reveals that former Communications minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni questioned the selection of former SABC head of news Phathiswa Magopeni’s candidacy, suggesting that it went against corporate governance prescripts. The letter is among the documents Ramaphosa submitted to the Constitutional Court with his answering affidavit to Media Monitoring Africa. The head of programmes at Media Monitoring Africa Thandi Smith joins us virtually.