JOHANNESBURG – When Chris Maroleng was heading to the SABC’s headquarters in Johannesburg last Thursday to begin his new job as chief operating officer (COO), he was nervous. He was expecting to be confronted by throngs of protesters opposed to his appointment blockading his way.
“I had developed an impression that I was going to meet serious resistance, that there might be a strike pr a rotest, because it (the SABC) is a politically charged environment,” Maroleng said.
“The SABC that we have seen in the past has been like that, it was broken. I thought there would be a protest,” he added. His apprehension captures the increasingly toxic and volatile environment that the SABC has become.
Days following his appointment, Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane was unrelenting in fuelling the political fire at the public broadcaster, making utterances suggesting an objection to the appointment of the former MTN group executive of corporate affairs.
This appeared to give credence to rumours swirling around that Maroleng was a Zimbabwean and did not have South African citizenship, as well as a rumour of an alleged incident of sexual harassment.
Maroleng has been given a critical mandate to fix the SABC and turn around its ailing, flailing fortunes, a task that Maroleng is ready to take on.
Photo Credit- IOL
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