Maguvhe and SABC team walk out of Parliament's inquiry

SABC board chairman Prof Mbulaheni Maguvhe and his legal team, and SABC executives including acting CEO James Aguma and Hlaudi Motsoeneng, staged a mass walkout of a parliamentary committee on Wednesday morning.

The ad hoc committee had decided to proceed with its inquiry into the fitness of the SABC board, whose sole member is Maguvhe, despite his decision to appeal last week’s ruling by the High Court in Cape Town that dismissed his bid to halt an inquiry into the SABC.

After the walkout on Wednesday, the committee proceeded to hear evidence from the auditor-general's office. The committee is also due to hear from Icasa officials and the public protector's office later on Wednesday. 

The chairman of the ad hoc committee, Vincent Smith, told MPs earlier that he had received notice of the appeal on Tuesday night.

The committee decided to continue with the inquiry with Smith saying there was no court order preventing the inquiry from proceeding.

The committee made its decision after meeting with Parliament's legal advisers behind closed doors for almost an hour. 

"I must emphasise that this is a decision by the MPs, not the legal minds," said Smith. 

Some MPs had argued that Maghuve's appeal was simply a stalling tactic.

Asked to comment on his intention to appeal, Maguvhe, who was in Parliament with his legal team, said: "I don’t debate through the media. The MPs can say what they want."

The inquiry was due to start on Wednesday, with a team from the auditor-general’s office and Icasa officials scheduled to provide evidence.

Maguvhe argued in his interdict application that some committee members were biased against him.

The SABC also joined Maguvhe’s court bid, seeking an instruction that the committee include it in the inquiry; that it be allowed to call witnesses and to cross-examine; and that it be given the option to present evidence in camera because of the commercially sensitive nature of some of the information requested by the committee.

Sources said the SABC feared details of its controversial 2013 R550m deal with MultiChoice would be made public.

The inquiry into the crisis at the broadcaster was precipitated by the reappointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as group executive for corporate affairs, after he lost his job as the operations chief.

The High Court in Cape Town set aside his permanent appointment as chief operating officer, and he failed in his appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal to have the High Court ruling set aside.

Part of the reason why Maguvhe and his team walked out was because the committee did not accede to his request that the documents the inquiry would be using on Wednesday - the auditor-general's report, the public protector's report and the Icasa report - be made available in Braille.

Maguvhe is partially blind and his legal team argued that not making available the documents in Braille would put him at a disadvantage.

MPs saw the request as another stalling tactic because the documents were publicly available and the SABC was aware last month already that they would form part of the inquiry.

by Bekezela Phakathi/Bdlive