NEW group CEO for the SABC, Solly Mokoetle, starts his first day on
the job today amid fears that his tenure at the broadcaster could once
again see a damaging battle between board and executive management, writes Jocelyn Newmarch for Business Day.
Weekend
reports suggested tension among designated board members about Solly Mokoetle's
appointment. Members anonymously criticised the interim board’s
decision to appoint him, and suggested that Mokoetle, the SABC’s former
chief operating officer, was tainted by a 2005 audit report.
These
board members argued the appointment was supposed to have been left to
the new board, which is expected to work with the CEO.
Mokoetle said yesterday he was cleared of all wrongdoing, and the Labour Court threw out the Gobodo audit report.
Charnley
said the interim board followed due process when appointing Mokoetle,
and did so transparently. She said the previous board short-listed
three candidates, including Mokoetle, for the position, and the interim
board opened the process, and advertised the position.
“We followed everything according to the articles of association,†Charnley said.
She
said the interim board obtained a legal opinion on whether the
board-designate should be included in the decision, but as it had not
been appointed it could not be involved. “If we had had to involve
them, someone would now be challenging it,†Charnley said.
She said Mokoetle did an excellent job during his previous tenure at the SABC.
In
an interview with Business Day yesterday, Mokoetle said his main
priority now was to stabilise the SABC and establish good relations
with the board.
Read the full report posted on www.businessday.co.za here.
