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- Professor Saths Cooper said the SABC was working to recover misspent funds from former office bearers through various means, including the courts.
- Cooper and others were being interviewed for positions on the new SABC board.
- Journalist Renee Horne said her main priority if appointed to the SABC board would be to get the SABC's finances back on the mend.
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The outgoing SABC has not just brought proper leadership back to public broadcaster, it is also actively pursuing former executives to held them accountable for previous misspending and mismanagement, according to board member and anti-apartheid activist Saths Cooper
Cooper was speaking to MPs during the subcommittee on communications' interviews for candidates for a new SABC board on Tuesday. Cooper is one of five candidates who are members of the current SABC board.
The SABC has come under the microscope in recent years due to significant problems around mismanagement and financial issues.
"During my tenure, there has not been a hint of mismanagement," said Cooper, who is also president of the Pan-African Psychology Union.
"We have a stringent audit process. Indeed, the board invited the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and it is still resolving many of the issues and I think the ability to get some of our money back is with the courts now," said Cooper.
He said the broadcaster was still going after former chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng to recover funds from irregular appointments and irregular wage hikes.
"The former COO is trying to keep his reckoning at bay, but the SABC is determined to follow anyone, in office or not, to pursue someone for recovery of funds, pending consultation with the broadcaster's lawyers."
Former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela previously found that Motsoeneng misled the broadcaster about his qualifications, arranged irregular appointments, and irregularly raised salaries.
In December last year the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled that Motsoeneng must pay back an R11.5 million "success fee" he received for negotiating a deal with MultiChoice for broadcast rights. The case was brought by the SIU and the SABC. Motsoeneng lost a subsequent appeal against the ruling.
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Cooper said previous retrenchments at the SABC were "painful" for it, and it could have been handled differently to retain vital skills and expertise. He said the SABC lost people through the voluntary severance package process that it should have tried to keep.
Getting the finances sorted
Another candidate, veteran journalist Renee Horne, said her main priority for the public service broadcaster if appointed to the incoming board, would be to get the SABC's finances back on the mend.
"Austerity measure reduced costs from R1 billion to R200 million. One thing I would like to implement if appointed is that in the next six months or so if the SABC could at least break even. That's the first job that I would do along with the board to bring the SABC to financial viability," said Horne.
Horne said the must-carry regulation, which compels other broadcasters to pay for the SABC's content, was a positive development.
Hot seat
Another candidate and audit committee member for Passenger Rail Agency of SA's subsidiaries Autopax and Intersite, Dinkwanyane Mohuba, found himself in the hot seat when he was grilled about his alleged dismissal from the University of Limpopo over allegations that he got someone to write a thesis on his behalf.
"I have never been suspended from the University of Limpopo and I was never fired by the University of Limpopo. I took the matter to court on an urgent basis and I lost on urgency, not on the facts. Unfortunately, as members of the public, we are subjected to the court of opinion with no facts," said Mohuba.
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CEO of the Association of Communications and Technology (ACT) and former director-general at the Department of Communications Nomvuyiso Batyi was asked whether she was friends with current and former communications ministers Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and Stella Ndabeni Abrahams.
"I have worked with all ministers... and maintained a professional relationship. The confusion can be caused by Ntshavheni attending the launch of the ACT, but she attended in her capacity as communications minister. She was one of many ministers who were invited, but she came," she said.
Help whistleblowers
Another candidate, Cynthia Stimpel, previously worked at South African Airways' Treasury division, Citi Bank, Nedbank, and the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
She is currently on the board of the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa, amongst others. Stimpel said during her time at SAA, she raised procurement irregularities and saved the airline R256 million but was shafted out of the organisation for it. She has since dedicated her life to supporting whistleblowers through her non-government organisation Citizens of Conscience.
Stimpel admitted that her skill set did not cover any broadcasting, news, or technological areas typically expected at the SABC, but said she would bring her independent thinking skills to the board if appointed.
