The SABC board has been rocked by yet another power struggle. Chairman Ben Ngubane yesterday asked parliament to remove fellow board member Cawekazi Mahlati from her position.

At a meeting of the portfolio committee on communications, Ngubane tabled a motion of no confidence in Mahlati, telling MPs she was a disruptive element within the board.

“It’s a sad matter this; we thought we had turned the corner at the SABC, but the board has degenerated into serious dysfunctionality because one board member continuously attacks the company secretary and continuously attacks other board members,” he said.

Mahlathi had campaigned for the removal of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as acting chief operation officer because he had frustrated the processing of a tender she appeared to have had an interest in, Ngubane said.

“The minutes, which I hope we sent to you, would show that this board member was punting Atos as a supplier, which would have cost us R500-million outside of proper tender procedures,” he said.

Mahlati could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Ngubane revealed that the SABC board had referred two letters of grievance against Mahlati, one from suspended news chief Phil Molefe, the other from former chief financial officer Lerato Nage.

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