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SABC board chairperson Mbulaheni Maguvhe’s defiance continued in Parliament yesterday when he walked out of the parliamentary inquiry probing the public broadcaster.
Maguvhe later told journalists that he felt bullied, belittled and disrespected and that his rights, including his Constitutional rights, were undermined by MPs who sit in the parliamentary ad hoc committee.
But Parliament is standing its ground and says it will summons Maguvhe even if it means he arrives in a back of a police van to give evidence to the committee.
The day started with the ad hoc committee hearing that Maguvhe was appealing a ruling by the Western Cape High Court which dismissed his urgent application last Friday, where he sought to stop the inquiry until two DA MPs were removed from the process.
Judge Siraj Desai dismissed the matter saying he would give reasons at a later stage. Those are still outstanding.
It therefore remains unclear on what basis Maguvhe is appealing. He did not have an interdict to stop the Parliament process.
As the inquiry began with submissions from the Auditor-General, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa and the Public Protector, Maguvhe’s lawyers requested that he be furnished with relevant documents from these institutions – in braille.
The ad hoc committee didn’t immediately have these documents, but chairperson Vincent Smith (ANC) revealed that the committee had previously advised all witnesses that the committee’s proceedings would be in English and anyone who would need translation should state so five days before the inquiry begins.
Smith also read out an email from the SABC’s Theresa Geldenhuys in which she was requesting that all communication to Maguvhe be submitted in Word format, to allow Maguvhe to transcribe same into braille.
On this basis, and based on comments by other MPs that the reports in question had been public for a while and it was reasonable to assume Maguvhe had had enough time to read them, the committee decided to proceed with the hearing.
As soon as an official from the Auditor-General began his presentation, Maguvhe and 20 other people including senior SABC executives James Aguma, the acting group executive officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng and their lawyers staged a walkout.
At a press conference held later at the five star African Pride 15 on Orange Hotel, they claimed that they could not sit in and be part of a meeting where Maguvhe’s rights were undermined.
Maguvhe, who is partially blind, said that he felt bullied as a person with a disability and that his rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities were undermined.
He said he was not against the inquiry but that when it started “the activity at the inquiry was very negative and hostile”. As chairperson he felt “bullied, belittled and disrespected”.
Maguvhe charged that utterances by some MPs in the ad hoc committee indicated the inquiry was a done deal and subjecting himself to an inquiry that had already made up its mind didn’t make sense. He had a long list of other misgivings about the committee and its process.
He also dismissed any suggestion that he should resign, saying he would only do so at the instruction of the appointing authority (President Jacob Zuma).
“I don’t see why I should resign. I never appointed myself. If the appointing authority no longer needs my services, he would say so.”
At the same press conference, Motsoeneng claimed there were people with political agendas who were using the Parliament process to settle scores. He said these people were also jealous as “the SABC is doing very well, especially our finances”.
Motsoeneng – who has previously clashed with ANC Chief Whip Jackson Mthembu and is being sued by Mthembu for defamation – suggested that his nemesis was behind the political agenda.
“The chairperson (Vincent Smith) was willing to deal with Prof Maguvhe’s concerns, but someone with a political agenda came in ... and things changed including the body language of the members of the committee,” claimed Motsoeneng.
Mthembu arrived at the meeting just shortly before the SABC delegation walked out.
The start to the SABC press conference was delayed by an hour, with the last 40 minutes of that time spent trying to find a link for a live broadcast. The SABC leadership demanded that their press conference be broadcast live and an OB van was brought through from Sea Point for the live broadcast.
Meanwhile, back in Parliament, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane told the ad hoc committee that the SABC had defied her office.
She said the SABC was not taking the office seriously and had not implemented the remedial actions in the When Governance and Ethics Fail report because they “choose and pick the ones they want to implement”.
“They chose to implement one after the court intervened in that matter,” she said.
The inquiry continues today.
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