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The DA tentatively welcomes the appointment of a new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the SABC announced yesterday.

It comes exactly one year and one week after Minister Muthambi promised that a new CEO would be appointed within three months. We hope it is a case of better late than never.

There is certainly cause for cautious optimism with this appointment.

Firstly, the new CEO is not SABC Chief Operations Officer (COO), Hlaudi Motsoeneng. This, in itself, is a positive development.

Secondly, Mr Frans Matlala appears to be highly qualified with extensive private sector experience. Perhaps he will be able to find some innovative solutions to the challenges the SABC faces.

Thirdly, Mr Matlala has an opportunity to learn from the experiences of his predecessor, Lulama Mokhobo, who resigned as CEO after just eleven months. The Public Protector found that Ms. Mokhobo’s position was made untenable by Motsoeneng’s campaign to bully and undermine her.

The key to Mr Matlala’s success in this new role is for him to quickly stamp his authority as the top administrator at the SABC. Already, the signs are good that Mr Matlala will put Motsoeneng in his place.

Yesterday, Mr Matlala told the media that creating cults around managers does not yield good results. This can only be interpreted as a thinly veiled criticism of the personality cult that Motsoeneng has created around himself.

Perhaps now that the SABC has a CEO, the SABC choir will stop singing praise songs about Motsoeneng at staff meetings and at television launches.

There are some question marks around the process to appoint Mr Matlala. With only six members, the Board is three short of the quorum it requires to make legally binding decisions such as the appointment of a new CEO. The DA is looking into this.

In the meantime, we wish Mr Matlala the best of luck for the challenges that await him.

Issued by DA