17/05/2008 18:25 - (SA)
Dali confident he’ll be back at SABC
Sabelo Ndlangisa and Japhet Ncube
AXED SABC boss Dali Mpofu may bounce back thanks to a comedy of errors by the troubled broadcaster’s board.
Mpofu, hastily suspended two weeks ago after he axed news chief Snuki Zikalala for allegedly leaking confidential company documents, will know tomorrow if he still has a job. Mpofu took the SABC to court in a bid to challenge his suspension and judgment was reserved in the Johannesburg High Court until tomorrow.
Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri this week admitted she had received a letter from axed Free State SABC employee and Lesedi FM executive producer Hlaudi Motsoeneng. It is believed that Mpofu suspended Zikalala for insubordination after he refused to rehire Motsoeneng.
Her spokesperson Joe Makhafola said from time to time the minister received communication from employees of parastatals that fall under her department.
“In her supervisory role as the minister she refers the complaints to the chairperson of the enterprise concerned and forwards a copy to the chief executive. Motsoeneng’s letter, as well as signed letters from several of his colleagues, was no exception,” said Makhafola.
Barring a miracle, Mpofu is set to waltz back into his plush 28th-floor office at the SABC’s headquarters in Auckland Park, Johannesburg.
A member of the board told City Press they were concerned that a court victory for Mpofu could make things difficult for them when Parliament discussed a motion of no confidence in the board.
Mpofu wants the court to overturn his suspension and declare the board meeting that suspended him earlier this month unlawful. He alleges it was in breach of company law and the SABC’s articles of association.
Mpofu’s lawyers are relying on the authority of an Eastern Cape High Court ruling which found that a suspension of an employee must be preceded by consultations with the affected party.
It was clear from the line of questioning by Judge Moroa Tsoka – who wanted to know why Mpofu was suspended at 1.40am and whether the minutes of the meeting constituted adopted resolutions of the board – that the balance tilted in Mpofu’s favour.
In court papers Mpofu argued that the board meeting was unlawful because the executive directors of the SABC had not been invited to attend.
Mpofu claimed that Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad had issued an instruction to the board to get rid of him after its appointment in January.
“Mr Pahad bears personal animosity towards me because I resisted his attempts to interfere during the PSL and SuperSport (broadcasting rights saga) towards the end of 2007,” the papers said.
The court heard that attempts to get rid of Mpofu were not driven by the entire non-executive section of the board but by “three or four people who are being misled by the chairperson and the deputy chairperson”.
Mpofu’s legal representative Vincent Maleka said the board was not the appointing authority for Mpofu and did not have the power to suspend him. This lay with Matsepe-Cassaburi.
The SABC’s legal representative, Tim Bruinders, argued that Mpofu did not have the powers to suspend Zikalala and the move had exposed the SABC to a possible lawsuit by Zikalala.
Bruinders told the court that the head of the SABC was appointed by the non-executive directors and the “minister simply approves” the appointment.
When the judge asked if there was a resolution of the board authorising Mpofu’s suspension, Bruinders said the minutes of the meeting constituted proof of the existence of the resolution.
Mpofu yesterday declined to comment, save to say; “It’s a sad day, but I will make a full comment after the judgment. I am confident that I will win, though.”
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