Alfred Moselakgomo and Sapa
Alfred Moselakgomo and Sapa
The deadline for nominations of people to serve on the board of the SABC has been extended by a week to July 25, parliament's communications portfolio committee announced yesterday.
"At the request of the Freedom of Expression Institute [FXI], the [committee] hereby extends the deadline for nominations to the SABC board from July 18 to July 25 2007," the committee said.
The committee would interview shortlisted candidates from August 1 to 17.
"The committee hopes to conclude the entire process by end of September," it said.
The FXI said nominations for new board members had not been given wide publicity.
The wider public needs to participate in the nominations as the SABC was a public broadcaster, the FXI said.
The institute also said it was worried by the way advertising calling for nominations was done. The advertisements were barely noticeable a fortnight ago in Sunday newspapers, the FXI said.
Na'eem Jeenah of the FXI said the small advertisement did not give sufficient publicity to the issue. The FXI believed the committee should be much more vigorous in ensuring public participation in the process, otherwise it risked becoming an elite process.
He said: "These concerns lead us to question whether, in fact, the interests of democracy are being served by the process."
SABC board deadline extended
Alfred Moselakgomo and Sapa
Alfred Moselakgomo and Sapa
The deadline for nominations of people to serve on the board of the SABC has been extended by a week to July 25, parliament's communications portfolio committee announced yesterday.
"At the request of the Freedom of Expression Institute [FXI], the [committee] hereby extends the deadline for nominations to the SABC board from July 18 to July 25 2007," the committee said.
The committee would interview shortlisted candidates from August 1 to 17.
"The committee hopes to conclude the entire process by end of September," it said.
The FXI said nominations for new board members had not been given wide publicity.
The wider public needs to participate in the nominations as the SABC was a public broadcaster, the FXI said.
The institute also said it was worried by the way advertising calling for nominations was done. The advertisements were barely noticeable a fortnight ago in Sunday newspapers, the FXI said.
Na'eem Jeenah of the FXI said the small advertisement did not give sufficient publicity to the issue. The FXI believed the committee should be much more vigorous in ensuring public participation in the process, otherwise it risked becoming an elite process.
He said: "These concerns lead us to question whether, in fact, the interests of democracy are being served by the process."