Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa acted unlawfully when he asked Parliament to reconsider the list of names submitted to him for appointment to the SABC board.
This was the legal opinion of Parliament’s legal advisor, Andile Tetyana, who assessed the letter which Ramaphosa wrote to National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula on 9 March.
“The letter by the president is not only unprecedented, but it is grossly unlawful. The letter of 9 March has got no basis in law,” Tetyana told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies.
In December, the president was given a list of people to be appointed to the SABC board, as the law requires.
There was great urgency in Ramaphosa signing off on the board appointments because the public broadcaster has been without a board for five months. This means crucial decisions on the functioning of the SABC cannot be taken.
On Thursday, the portfolio committee heard feedback on the legal opinion sought on Ramaphosa’s referral of the matter back to the committee.
Tetyana said that according to the legal opinion gathered, Ramaphosa had no basis for referring the recommended names back to Parliament.
The law states that Ramaphosa be given a list of 12 names he must appoint to the board.
Included in this list was a reserve pool of candidates that could be considered should one of the recommended people be unable to take up their position on the board.
Ramaphosa raised concerns about the unavailability of one of the recommended candidates, Professor Franz Krüger.
But even with Krüger’s withdrawal, the president had a choice of reserve pool names, which were ranked and which he could pick from to replace Krüger.
“The president has been given the 12 names and can only go to the reserve pool if one or two of the 12 names are unavailable.”
Tetyana said:
He said Ramaphosa could approach the courts if he felt like Parliament’s list was unlawful.
“The president is constitutionally bound to appoint as per the resolution of the National Assembly. If the president has, for whatever reason, felt that what Parliament directs him to do is unlawful, the president has one option – he has to approach a competent court.
“The president has no power beyond the powers conferred to him by law. The president must tell Parliament where he is taking this power to tell Parliament how to conduct [its] business,” Tetyana said.
After the legal opinion presented by the legal advisor, most committee members from across party lines demanded that the committee write to Ramaphosa. The committee wanted him to appoint the SABC board immediately.
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