Friday, May 28, 2010

BREAKING. Support Public Broadcasting (SOS) calls on Ben Ngubane to resign; ''no confidence in his ability to lead the SABC''.


You're reading it here first.

A major developing story... I was first late last night RIGHT HERE to tell you that the Support Public Broadcasting (SOS) will be asking the SABC chairman dr. Ben Ngubane to resign and it just happened. The SOS just called on dr. Ben Nbugane "to do the honourable thing and resign".

I'm in Kampala, Uganda but more breaking news about this later today.

What I can tell you is that sources have been telling me since yesterday that there's "a major groundswell within the SABC board" as well as in the industry to get rid of dr. Ben Ngubane after he seriously compromised his integrity with the unilateral ''appointment'' of Phil Molefe, the SABC's new head of news, that the SABC board on Saturday overtuned and declared ''null and void''.

Now a lot of people want dr. Ben Ngubane gone as SABC board chairman as soon as possible. ''He's poison,'' a source told me. ''He's poisoning everything that the new SABC board is trying to do in trying to regain and rebuild credibility within the SABC.'' Another well-respected source quipped this moring: ''Dr. Ben Ngubane, admired by many has suddenly become a pariah. There's growing tension between him and the SABC board and one or the other will have to go. Chances are it's not going to be the new SABC board who did the right thing by speaking out about his flagrant disregard for the SABC's corporate governance rules and structures.''

The SOS says ''we no longer have confidence in his ability to lead the SABC through its present serious problems to build a new, vibrant, pro-democracy institution. If dr. Ben Ngubane is not prepared to do the honourbale thing and resign, then we call on parliament to hold an urgent public hearing into the matter.''