SABC board appointments delayed again as Ramaphosa seeks clarity on number of candidates

• The appointment of a new SABC board has been further delayed.
• President Cyril Ramaphosa wants more detail and clarity regarding the candidates who are up for positions.
• The public broadcaster has been limping along without a board.

Before appointing a new SABC board, President Cyril Ramaphosa wants more details on the names of board member candidates.

Ramaphosa has written to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula requesting more information on the candidates.

According to the law, Parliament puts together a list of names of candidates, on which Ramaphosa has a final say.

In his letter to Mapisa-Nqakula, Ramaphosa said there was confusion over the "so-called reserve pool names" which ought not to be considered.

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"Whilst you have informed me that the so-called reserve pool names ought, in your words, not to be considered at all, these feature in the decision of the National Assembly of 06 December 2022. Notwithstanding your letter, I do not believe myself constitutionally empowered to ignore the contents of a resolution of the National Assembly," he said.

Ramaphosa said the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technology, Boyce Makhosonke Maneli, held the view that 15 names should be recommended to him.

But only 12 names were submitted.

Ramaphosa asked that the matter be referred to the committee for its urgent consideration "and that I be given a clear, legally accurate record of what precisely the National Assembly has determined with respect to the persons they resolved to advise me to consider for appointment to the SABC board".