'No link' in SABC dismissals

2008-05-10 18:39

Johannesburg - No link seems to exist between the suspension of SABC Group CEO Dali Mpofu and Head of News Snuki Zikalala, Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri said on Saturday.

Matsepe said the information she received from a briefing indicated that the board's reasons for suspension had to do with an issue of governance and an attempt to avoid a developing "crisis".

"Their concerns centre around issues of the budget, sports rights, staff problems at executive level and the impact that all these have on the business of the SABC," said the minister.

The Minister had not yet received Mpofu's response for her "to have an impartial view".

Matsepe-Casaburri said interim measures by the board ensured management of the SABC continued under "capable hands"

"The public [should]... remain calm, avoid speculation and incorrect reporting that further damage the image of a national entity that belongs to all of us as a nation."

On Thursday, Matsepe-Casaburri said government would not intervene in the apparent dispute between the SABC board and its executive management.

The board was responsible for appointing the SABC's executives, so "they have to hire and fire", she told a media briefing at parliament at the time.

Matsepe-Casaburri said legislation allowed her to do very little and her task was simply to "supervise" the work of the SABC.

On Wednesday Mpofu was suspended apparently for failing to implement decisions of the SABC board.

His suspension came a day after Mpofu himself suspended Zikalala.

- SAPA