ANC seniors sing a different tune on Matthews's SABC resignation

African National Congress (ANC) senior members are not synonymous in their feelings regarding the sudden resignation of Jimi Matthews from the SABC.

The acting SABC CEO resigned on Monday citing having been “complicit in many decisions which I am not proud of”.

ANC chief whip and chairman of the party's national executive committee's communication subcommittee Jackson Mthembu said in reaction to the resignation that Matthews was a good manager and had expertise that would have helped the SABC in its move to digital broadcasting.

"To lose such quality is concerning ... but I have not read his reasons. It is so regrettable," Mthembu said.

Meanwhile, the ANC's spokesperson Zizi Kodwa sang a different tune altogether when asked for a comment on the matter.

He came out guns blazing in an SABC report saying that Matthews has allowed himself to be “used by those who…want to undermine the integrity of the public broadcaster”.

Kodwa told the SABC it was not something “that we would have expected of him as a professional and a seasoned journalist”.

“If he was genuine as an employee of the SABC‚ given the challenges that he talked about in his letter‚ he should have approached the board‚ the management even the minister and I’m certain that if anyone has the interests of South African people‚ he would not have made SABC a laughing stock in the manner he has done‚” Kodwa said.

“I think clearly the intention is to add to the narrative that SABC is in disarray…he has allowed himself to be a tool to be used to attack the entire integrity of the SABC.”