7.5.4 The Head of misrepresented the facts when he stated that studios 1 and 2 were destroyed in the Henley fire. Only studios 5 and 6 were affected. 7.5.5 Mr Motsoeneng, as chair of the Operations Committee approved the Vision View contract and unlawfully cancelled the tender the Bid Adjudications Committee had approved and recommended to the Group EXCO. This resulted in an irregular and unauthorised deviation process. 8. Questionable transactions 8.1 agreement MultiChoice 8.1.1 The agreement between pay-TV channel and the SABC has been MultiChoice surrounded by controversy since its inception. Three main issues sparked the controversy: the lack of transparency in the processing of the agreement; the of SABC archives which would result in the establishment of an “sale” entertainment channel SABC ENCORE; and the fact that the renders the “sale” two channels that broadcast SABC content inaccessible to the majority of South African citizens who do not have access to pay-tv. 8.1.2 From the information that was available to the Committee it is evident that the agreement was well underway by the time the 2013 Board was MultiChoice appointed. Evidence by a former Board member indicates that upon their appointment to the interim Board, they were presented with numerous documents for Board members’ information. These included the commercial and master channel distribution agreement between the SABC and MultiChoice. Minutes provided to the Committee by Ms Kalidass indicate that the interim Board had granted provisional approval of the proposal/agreement on 12 June 2013. 8.1.3 Some Board members raised concerns around the legal aspects of the contract between the SABC and drawing attention to section 8 read with MultiChoice, section 2 of the Broadcasting Act which related to the powers, objectives and parameters within which the SABC could operate, in particular. Based on these provisions it was suggested that the deal was unlawful.
7.5.4 The Head of misrepresented the facts when he stated that studios 1 and 2 were destroyed in the Henley fire. Only studios 5 and 6 were affected. 7.5.5 Mr Motsoeneng, as chair of the Operations Committee approved the Vision View contract and unlawfully cancelled the tender the Bid Adjudications Committee had approved and recommended to the Group EXCO. This resulted in an irregular and unauthorised deviation process. 8. Questionable transactions 8.1 MultiChoice agreement 8.1.1 The agreement between pay-TV channel MultiChoice and the SABC has been surrounded by controversy since its inception. Three main issues sparked the controversy: the lack of transparency in the processing of the agreement; the “sale” of SABC archives which would result in the establishment of an entertainment channel SABC ENCORE; and the fact that the “sale” renders the two channels that broadcast SABC content inaccessible to the majority of South African citizens who do not have access to pay-tv. 8.1.2 From the information that was available to the Committee it is evident that the MultiChoice agreement was well underway by the time the 2013 Board was appointed. Evidence by a former Board member indicates that upon their appointment to the interim Board, they were presented with numerous documents for Board members’ information. These included the commercial and master channel distribution agreement between the SABC and MultiChoice. Minutes provided to the Committee by Ms Kalidass indicate that the interim Board had granted provisional approval of the proposal/agreement on 12 June 2013. 8.1.3 Some Board members raised concerns around the legal aspects of the contract between the SABC and MultiChoice, drawing attention to section 8 read with section 2 of the Broadcasting Act which related to the powers, objectives and parameters within which the SABC could operate, in particular. Based on these provisions it was suggested that the deal was unlawful.
170227committeereport.docx