By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The SABC has embarked on another process to get rid of SABC News Group Executive Phathiswa Magopeni,this is after finding her guilty of misconduct for failing to stop the broadcast of an interdicted Special Assignment episode and issuing her with a written warning.
According to City Press report,the broadcaster has asked Magopeni to submit a mitigation argument for the case that was already concluded on December 23.
Magopeni was found guilty on one of the three charges levelled against her by SABC CEO Madoda Mxakwe for failing to ensure that the court order was adhered to and the episode was not aired.
Advocate Nazir Cassim chaired the disciplinary hearing, and ruled that there was no evidence to suggest that she had deliberately defied the court interdict. He recommended that she be given a warning by the SABC board.
Magopeni had also lodged a formal complaint with the SABC against Mxakwe and board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini for alleged editorial interference, and that they were were attempting to remove her from her position.
She also alleges that Makhathini tried to influence how the SABC covered the inauguration of a new AmaZulu King after the death of King Goodwill Zwelithini in March 2021.
In October, the ANC circumvented Magopeni to go straight to Mxakwe to get its way, Magopeni revealed in her grievance letter. Mxakwe communicated directly with ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe.
“On Sunday 24 October 2021, Mr Mxakwe called me about the ANC’s Mr Pule Mabe, who wanted to set up a radio interview for the ANC President who was campaigning in Limpopo,” Magopeni wrote.
According to the publication, some people are asking why the public broadcaster is raising matters that has been concluded.
Her complaint against Mxakwe and Makhathini has divided the ten-member board, with half siding with Magopeni, arguing for editorial independence, while the others agree with Mxakwe and Makhathini that she be removed.
Although the board agreed that the two men be subjected to a hearing, they could not agree on how to go about it.
One group wanted an independent chairperson to ensure fairness, while the other wanted an internal person to chair the hearing.
According to the report, Magopeni’s refusal to give the go-ahead for a R78 million contract to acquire a new editorial system has further angered Mxakwe and Makhathini.
The CEO, CFO and other executives gave the contract a nod, but it couldn’t go ahead without Magopeni’s signature.
Magopeni was appointed Group Executive for News and Current Affairs at the SABC in 2018 after an exhaustive search for the right candidate. She came to the SABC from eTV, where she was a senior news executive. In three years, Magopeni and her team restored trust and credibility in SABC News after the era of Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who ran the broadcaster into the ground.
In 2020, the Broadcast Research Council said that SABC TV had a viewership of 30- million, far and away the highest in the country. The SABC free to air news service is watched by 40% of the total available audience, while the SABC 24-hour news channel on DStv has 40% of total news viewers, up from 14.7% four years ago.