The African National Congress (ANC) on Wednesday said it "welcomed" the appointment of Chris Maroleng as the new chief operations officer (COO) of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

"The ANC Study Group on Communications welcomes the appointment of Chris Maroleng as the new Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) effective from 01 February 2018," said the statement issued by Mziwamadoda Kalako, the Whip of the ANC Study Group on Communications.

"The ANC welcomes this decision and hopes that Maroleng’s appointment will take the public broadcaster to new heights." 

Previously, Maroleng was eNCA’s Africa Editor, an executive for group corporate affairs at the MTN Group and a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

Maroleng, who takes up his new position at the SABC on Thursday, holds a BA (Hons) degree and an MBA degree from the University of Cape Town.