Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Leah Thabisile Khumalo rubber-stamped as the latest SABC board member to join the beleagued South African public broadcaster.

Leah Thabisile Khumalo has been rubber-stamped by president Jacob Zuma as the latest politically appointed SABC board member to join the board of the beleaguered South African public broadcaster as a non-executive director.

Leah Khumalo was one of the five names shortlisted in February to fill the new gap on the SABC board.

In 2010 Leah Khumalo was appointed as the acting chairperson of the floundering parastatal broadcasting signal distributor, Sentech.

Leah Khumalo's name appears in the recently released, scathing report from South Africa's Public Protector as one of the people who got "irregular salary increments" from the SABC.

The Public Protector recommendation that "any fruitless and wasteful expenditure incurred as the result of irregular salary increments to Hlaudi Motsoeneng and Leah Khumalo and freelancers be recovered from the appropriate persons".

"We wish her all the best in this critical task of executing the country's public broadcasting mandate," says president Jacob Zuma in a statement.

Leah Khumalo replaces the hole left when Noluthando Gosa resigned from the SABC board for the third time.

Parliament's portfolio committee on communications chooses the SABC board and then sends the "recommendation" to the general assembly and then to the president.

The portfolio committee has an ANC political party majority, meaning only ANC "approved" people are steamrolled through to be on the SABC board through a majority voting block.

Leah Khumalo joins the fourth fracturous SABC board since 2009, constantly in upheaval due to undue political influence and personal infighting.