Media News - Friday, July 03, 2009

S Africa MPs propose media chiefs

A parliamentary committee has proposed a five-strong board to head the South African Broadcasting Corporation, a day after the previous board was sacked. Parliament voted to dissolve the board after months of infighting and alleged mismanagement - the public broadcaster is 740m rand ($94m; £58m) in debt. The communications committee has now chosen five people for an interim board which MPs will vote on next week. Critics have long said the broadcaster was a mouthpiece for the government. They accused former President Thabo Mbeki of filling the previous board with his own followers. Opposition parties said the new board would have to be politically impartial if the beleaguered broadcaster's reputation is to be restored. The BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says four of the members of the proposed interim board are seen as relatively neutral. But the committee could not agree on the fifth nominee - Phil Mtimkulu, a political science lecturer who was nominated by the governing Africa National Congress (ANC). They were eventually forced into a vote, and approved his nomination by eight votes to four. The SABC has been saddled with debt since the mid-1990s, with some board members and senior managers accused of abusing their position to enrich themselves. The board and managers have also openly rowed over major decisions and blamed each other for the corporation's difficulties. By the time the National Assembly decided to dissolve the board, most of them had already quit. (BBC News)

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