Tuesday, May 6, 2008

SABC imploding

Just a day after SABC's chief executive Dali Mpofu announced the suspension of group executive of news and current affairs Snuki Zikalala, he finds himself suspended.
While no mention was made of any link between the two suspensions, it is pretty obvious that there is one.
Yesterday, while refusing to divulge any details of the Zikalala suspension, Mpofu claimed "This is a matter that has to do with information that we received about sensitive documents of the organisation" but denied reports that the suspension had anything to do with the leaking of alleged differences between himself and the SABC board "It is actually unrelated to the media speculation around this issue. So timing in that sense was quite strangely unfortunate."
Snuki Zikalala was instrumental in and highly criticized for the creation of the SABC News' blacklist of political analysts critical of President Thabo Mbeki and his suspension was lauded by many.
My initial reaction to the Mpofu suspension was that this is the ANC laced SABC board taking action against someone threatening their important, strategically placed ANC apologist. After all Inside Politics wrote earlier today of the SABC board "board chairperson Eddie Funde has a list of ANC credentials that run from managing the placement, education and training of the hundreds of young ANC exiles during the 1970s to serving on the ANC’s NEC as recently as 2002. Another board member, Solly Mokoetle, ran Radio Freedom for the ANC in exile and Christine Qunta, when she’s not attacking the DA, is taking out full page adverts in various newspapers that do everything from criticise the media for not supporting the President enough to simply wishing him happy birthday. "
However you can add Mpofu himself to that list as he served the ANC as deputy head of its Social Welfare Department.
So is the nation, once again being dragged through the mud, embarrassingly, as the repercussions of the Polokwane power struggle continue to be played out in all institutions in which the ANC has, or wants control?

It seems as if this is going to get dirty!

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