ACADEMIC Mamphela Ramphele has turned down an opportunity to serve on
the SABC board, despite her nomination being supported by all major
political parties, write Dominic Mahlangu and Nkululeko Ncana in The Times.
Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications yesterday published the final list of 31 candidates to be interviewed next week for the 12 positions on the board of the public broadcaster .
Ramphele, who was seen as a frontrunner, withdrew from the race citing “other commitmentsâ€ÂÂ.
DA MP Niekie van den Berg said the committee members were disappointed to hear that the former vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town was not available.
“We all wanted her to serve on the board, but we must respect her wishes,†Van den Berg said.
Among the short-listed candidates are former SABC journalists Max du Preez and Pippa Green, unionist Cedric Gina, former ambassadors Barbara Masekela and Ben Ngubane, and members of the disgraced former board, Andile Mbeki and Desmond Golding.
Author and journalist William Mervin Gumede, former ANC MP Khotso Khumalo, and ANC- aligned media specialist David Niddrie have also made the list.
Former Progressive Federal Party leader Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, former IFP communications spokeswoman Suzanne Vos and Tselane Tambo, daughter of the late ANC president Oliver Tambo, will also be interviewed.
Committee members said they were satisfied with the mix of the short-listed candidates.
Chairman Ismail Vadi said the short list was the product of a “consensus report†prepared by a multiparty team of the committee.
Click here to read the full report, posted on thetimes.co.za.
