OPINION | Better to help the boards to help themselves

One would be forgiven for thinking our state-owned enterprises (SOE) have an inherent design flaw which lends them to perpetual involvement in mismanagement, political intrigue and instability.
Barely two weeks into the job, newly installed Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams is embroiled in a bitter battle with the relatively new SABC board.
This is the same board which was tasked with turning around the embattled SOE after the dark era of Hlaudi Motsoeneng and company.
It is a scenario which has played itself over and over again, not just at the SABC, but virtually in every SOE.
At the nudge of powerful party bosses, a minister feels compelled to direct the board on how to do their job, and often what to do or face the chop. It is the classic top down, masters and minions, big man approach which always delivers instability and loss, with the party bigwigs perched right at the top.
It is appreciable that decisions which have become necessary to turn the SABC are not easy.
One of those decisions facing the SABC board was the issue of cost-cutting which had pushed the board towards considering retrenchments, especially since the SABC has an unsustainable bloated salary bill.
Apparently the ruling party was not happy with this, which is understandable with our appalling unemployment figures. So the question then is this, is it better for the state to bail the SABC again in the effort of saving jobs, or is it better to allow the SABC to find its own way back to health knowing that over 900 employees and over 1,100 freelancers will lose their jobs?
However, the real question here is this, will government, especially under the ANC, ever trust boards of SOEs enough to allow them to execute their mandate without interference? Is it possible for the state to trust the systems and procedures written into our SOEs without tinkering with them for short- term political gain? Is it possible for government to recognise and respect not only the boards of SOEs but also of our institutions of democracy which have been trampled underfoot in the same manner in the last decade or so? How will our democracy ever mature, if we keep tinkering and obstructing its operation, all because a few party bosses say so?
While we may think the pertinent question here is whether or not SABC employees and freelancers will lose their jobs, the real question has to do with our very democracy.
It has to do with the way of doing things which has guaranteed almost unfailingly over the last decade, that most of our SOEs keep depleting the fiscus. In so doing they keep failing to execute their mandate, which I presume was to expand the fiscus instead of diminishing it. At the core is an obstinate out of touch leadership who insist that the use of an SOE is to employ “friends”, select pliant boards and executives.
Perhaps the old communist obsession with propaganda remains deeply embedded in the psyche of the ANC regime, hence the need to maintain control of the SABC.
But also of concern is the seemingly irresistible urge for our government to go for fast and easy solutions.
In fact the obsession is with shortcuts. How else can we see the situation at SABC, where irresponsible leadership, was allowed to run rogue, racking up costs, way above what the SABC is able to bring in?
And when attempts are made to right the SABC, the party bosses attempt to interfere, but do so in the name of SABC employees they do not really care about. This urge for shortcuts has become a real problem for us. Our democracy’s inability to carry a long-term vision for this country is behind the lack of trust, direction and hope for a coherent future.
When we want to believe that a turnaround is in fact gaining ground, we are pulled back into the quagmire which has been played out in the past decade. Whilst it is not desirable for jobs to be lost, is it not more important to look at the bigger, long-term picture always; and build strong institutions and independent boards?..

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