A service provider has been appointed to review the salaries of State-owned enterprise (SOE) board members, Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda said on Sunday.

This included the boards of the SABC and Sentech, he said.

The Minister had held quarterly meetings with the SABC and Sentech on Friday.

Sentech, the State-owned signal distributor, had an improved cash flow as of September, Nyanda said.

The operating margin increased from 7,2% to 27% and the net profit margin increased from 13% to 32%.

At the end of September, Sentech had R230-million in cash and R146-million in operating profit.

This could be attributed to the newly introduced cash collection policy and the implementation of austerity measures, Nyanda said.

The Minister said that he would appoint a new CEO of Sentech by early November.

"A new CEO has been recommended to me... it's a very good candidate," he said.

In February, a task team report found that Sentech was "rudderless, inadequately funded and misdirected" and was an unsustainable business.

The task team urged drastic and immediate action if Sentech was to avoid lapsing into terminal decline.

Nyanda had received progress reports from the SABC on performance against government guarantees, corporate governance, the unqualified audited financial statements and vacancies.

The SABC board recommended that a report given to the portfolio committee on communications by the chairman of the board be withdrawn.

The ministry had noted the recommendation, he said.

The board would be submitting a new report to the committee next week, he said.
The board was holding governance workshops to deal with matters of corporate governance.

"I closed the meeting with the board of the SABC giving a frank talk on my expectations and the way the board should focus on their mandate and avoid turning the SABC [into] a playground for factional interest," he said.

The department of communication was elected to be part of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

The ITU was an assurance structure that facilitated the implementation of member States of the United Nations.

South Africa was the only Southern African Development Community state appointed.

Nyanda said that the department was "humbled" by the nomination and election.

"We will make sure Africa is represented well," he said.

The minister was leaving for Egypt on Sunday where he would accompany President Jacob Zuma on a State visit.