Cape Town - The delay in appointing the board of the SABC has come back to haunt the public broadcaster as the entity could not finalise and submit its corporate plan to Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Mondli Gungubele in time for submission to Parliament.
It has now emerged that Gungubele wrote to Parliament requesting to be granted an extension to submit the corporate plan and annual performance plan for the broadcaster.
Gungubele made the request in a letter to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo.
In terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), the SABC board is required to submit its corporate plan and budget for the years 2023-24 to 2025-26 to Gungubele and National Treasury at least one month before the start of the financial year, or another agreed-upon period with the National Treasury.
Gungubele said in his letter during the absence of a board at the SABC, several governance and compliance processes were negatively impacted.
“The corporation was unable to finalise and submit this important plan to the executive authority by the end of February 2023.
These included the crucial approval and signing off of the draft 2023-24 financial year corporate plan.
“The corporation was unable to finalise and submit this important plan to the executive authority by the end of February 2023.
“These delays and setbacks were directly linked to the lack of proper oversight and governance, underscoring the importance of a strong Board structure in driving effective decision-making and operational efficiency,” he said in his letter dated April 26.
Gungubele asked that the public broadcaster’s plan for 2023-24 until 2024-25 be tabled at a later date.
“The new board has been asked to expedite the finalization of the corporate plan and it will be tabled once it has been completed and approved by the accounting authority,” he said.
The SABC has been without a board after the term of the previous board came to an end on October 15.
The move had prompted the SABC to approach the National Treasury to seek authorization to designate its group CEO Madoda Mxakwe as the accounting authority in the absence of the board.
This was despite the National Assembly having recommended 12 persons to serve on the board, including three names on the reserve list.
Ramaphosa took five months to appoint the board after he sought clarity in March from the National Assembly Speaker Mapisa-Nqakula on the vetting of the nominees and the legality of having a reserve pool of candidates.
Meanwhile, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has also asked for more time to submit the budget and annual performance plan for the Department in the Presidency.
Ntshavheni, formerly communications and digital technologies minister, cited engagements with the department after she was appointed to the portfolio in March.
She said she only sat down with Ramaphosa on April 5 to agree on the critical priorities that she needed to deliver on in the final year of the sixth administration.
“I had anticipated that I would have finalised all my engagements with management by the end of April 2023, as per the letter sent to Parliament on the 24 March 2023. However, I am yet to finalise all engagements to ensure that there is indeed alignment, and all the agreed priorities are adequately incorporated in the APP (annual performance plan) 2023-24.”
She asked Mapisa-Nqakula and Masondo to grant her a further extension to May 15 to submit the budget and annual performance plan in time for The Presidency budget vote.
Cape Times