Peter Matlare, the Group Chief Executive of the SABC, resigned yesterday to take up a position at Vodacom. Matlare has been SABC CEO for four years and his contract was only due to expire at the end of the year. Allegations of conflict with the SABC hierarchy have been named as reasons for his early departure.
Eddie Funde, the chairperson of the SABC board, says the corporation has accepted his resignation with regret. Funde says Matlare leaves behind a legacy of positive financial results and expansion of local content, which have won the SABC numerous local and international awards, according to the SABC statement.
Matlare's departure date is still to be determined.
His resignation follows media speculation of a tiff between Matlare and the broadcaster's managing director of news, Snuki Zikalala, according to IOL. The Star reported that Monday's special Board at the SABC meeting was to find out from Matlare why a new current affairs programme, Roundtable, had been commissioned to an outside production house, in contravention of the broadcaster's policy. Zikalala had raised the matter as he felt undermined by Matlare, the report claimed, said Sapa.
The ANC has described the resignation of Matlare as unfortunate, reports SABC News.
Smuts Ngonyama, the ANC spokesperson, has wished him luck in his new career. The Democratic Alliance (DA) on the other hand says Matlare has been under visible strain since the present board took over at the beginning of last year and began, as a statement claims, to turn the public broadcaster into the mouthpiece of the ANC government.
The DA has criticised a statement ascribed to the board that they are consulting government as 'the shareholder' on Matlare's replacement. The DA added that the board should be there to act on behalf of the public, and is not supposed to take instructions from government
Peter Matlare, in response to various comments in the media today, says the government, as a shareholder, has rights as in any other organisation, and "we should not spin it out of control to say that the shareholder or government plays some nefarious role in this whole issue".
Matlare says there are agreements and disagreements with non-executive directors within the organisation, but he says there has been a joint development in the setting of goals. He says "in an organisation such as this, there will always be areas of contention and tension", reports SABC News.
Matlare added that the area of governance has become a very important and almost controversial one, not only in the public sector, but also in other organisations. Non-executives "must have their nose in the business, not their hand in the business", Matlare says, and "this is one of the key things I believe in managing governance."
In turn, Eddie Funde, the chairperson of the SABC board, agreed with Matlare on the issues of governance and the role of non-executives. Funde says a replacement for Matlare will not be easy to find as he has made an impact "in driving the organisation in terms of its social mandate, catering for different languages and increasing local content". Funde says that he is not sure how long it will take to replace Matlare as the process will only start now.
Sources: SABC News; IOL.
