It has now been almost two weeks since a court interdict prevented Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Communications from meeting in a closed session with the Board of the SABC to discuss the crisis facing the corporation, and chiefly to establish what the circumstances were surrounding the irregular appointment of Acting Head of News, Phil Molefe.

In that time, we have witnessed the Board's suspension of Group CEO, Solly Mokoetle, and witnessed various allegations being levelled against the non-executive members of the Board by, amongst others, SABC Board Chairman, Dr Ben Ngubane, and the MK Military Veterans' Association (MKMVA). In amongst this furore, the SABC Board has been left hamstrung and unable to return to Parliament to put its case to the committee which appointed it, and is responsible for its oversight because of the ANC's refusal to allow the hearing to continue in full view of the public.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned that Parliament and the ANC's delaying of this issue is causing untold damage to the broadcaster, because as long as the Board is unable to fulfil its statutory and fiduciary responsibility and report to Parliament on the perilous situation facing the broadcaster, the crisis facing the SABC, which is now in its third unresolved year, will continue to deteriorate, making the task of turning the corporation around ever more difficult.

We must ask ourselves, where is the Communications Minister on this issue? This falls directly under his ministry and his silence has been deafening.

Parliament cannot allow interest groups like the MKMVA to wage public war with the board that it and the President of the Republic have appointed without giving the Board of the corporation the opportunity to state its case on the record.

The Chairman of the PCC should call the Board back to Parliament to account in an open and transparent public meeting so that we can begin to address the management crisis in earnest.

I will be writing to the Chairman of the Portfolio Committee and to the Speaker of Parliament urging them to convene a public meeting as a matter of urgency.