By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe allegations of corruption and maladministration in the affairs of the SABC and Gupta-Owned The New Age (TNA) over the TNA Breakfast Briefings.
The TNA Business Briefings were a partnership between The New Age and the SABC, and have attracted large sponsorships from state-owned enterprises.
The Guptas are accused of corruption and have fled to the United Arab Emirates.
The State Capture Commission, led by former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, revealed in 2022 that former president Jacob Zuma was involved in a controversial advertising deal that led to the SABC’s loss of advertising revenue for TNA Media and ANN7.
The public broadcaster and SIU hope to recover costs and profits made by TNA Media from the Gupta family’s assets.
In a statement on Monday, the SIU said the president signed the proclamation, which will result in a probe of the public broadcaster’s decision to sponsor the breakfasts, known as The New Age Breakfast Briefings, at a cost of at least R20-million. The SIU is empowered to recover any losses the state may have suffered as a result.
The proclamation “authorises the SIU to investigate serious maladministration in connection with the affairs of the SABC in respect of the TNA briefings hosted and broadcast by the SABC as well as serious maladministration in connection with affairs of Eskom, Transnet, PetroSA, South African Airways and the national department of human settlements”, the SIU said. “The state institutions and the department allegedly funded some of the TNA breakfast shows.”
Collectively, the state-owned enterprises are understood to have spent tens of millions of rand sponsoring the breakfasts — with little obvious financial return. Senior figures in the Gupta family, including brothers Ajay and Atul Gupta, have fled the country, fearing arrest. They were close to Zuma, on whose watch state capture corruption flourished.
The SIU said its probe will focus on whether the agreement between the SABC and TNA Media was concluded in a manner that was “not fair, competitive, transparent, equitable or cost-effective, or in violation of applicable legislation, guidelines or instructions from national treasury”.
“The SIU probe will also examine any irregular, unlawful or improper conduct by state officials or employees of TNA Media, its suppliers or service providers, or any other person or entity implicated,” it said.
The proclamation covers allegations of unlawful and improper conduct that occurred between January 2011 and October 2024, as well as any related activities before 1 January 2011 and after the date of the proclamation that is pertinent, the SIU said.