THE newly appointed SABC board has asked Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda and Parliament to help it get the auditor-general to conduct another forensic investigation into the public broadcaster's finances, writes Nkululeko Ncana in The Times.
SABC deputy chairman Felleng Sekha yesterday told MPs this was necessary if the institution was to determine the extent of misconduct uncovered by the AG in his previous report. She said the public broadcaster could not afford to foot the bill for bringing in the AG.
"Based on information we've discovered in the internal audit report, we request the [parliamentary portfolio committee on communications] to assist us in getting the AG to come back and conduct a more comprehensive forensic audit. It is important that we determine the extent of the malfeasance within the SABC," Sekha said.
Board chairman Ben Ngubane said that in disciplinary hearing cases that had been concluded "there was no money lost".
"It was more about people signing contracts beyond their delegation. But there was no evidence of people gaining out of it," he said.
But Communications Deputy Minister Dina Pule warned that now was not be the ideal moment to bring in the AG because the SABC was working on implementing his recommendations.
"My proposal would be to first implement the recommendations. If we realise that we need further investigations, as a ministry we would not say no," she said.
Click here to read the full report, posted on timeslive.co.za.ÂÂÂ
