REMOVING DIRECTORS OF STATE-OWNED COMPANIES SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition v South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Limited (81056/14) [2017] ZAGPJHC 289

Abstract

In SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition v South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Limited; SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition v South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Limited ((81056/14) [2017] ZAGPJHC 289 (17 October 2017)) (SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition v SABC), the Gauteng Local Division, Johannesburg was faced with two applications brought against the South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Limited (the SABC) by the SOS: Support Public Broadcasting Coalition, the Freedom of Expression Institute and the Trustees of the Media Monitoring Project Benefit Trust. The Minister of Communications (the Minister) and Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng (the former chief operations officer of the SABC) were, inter alia, joined as respondents. Both applications related to the constitutionality and lawfulness of the powers exercised by the Minister in respect of the directors of the SABC board. The applications were instituted against a “background of systematic and repeated failures in the governance and management of the SABC”.
The first application concerned the lawfulness of the powers vested in the Minister by virtue of the amended Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) of the SABC (the amended MOI) and the SABC Board Charter (the Charter) in respect of the appointment, discipline and suspension of the executive directors of the SABC. The second application concerned the power of the Minister to remove the executive and non-executive directors of the SABC board from office. The focus of this note is on the second application, although the first application will also be addressed, albeit briefly. This note evaluates the judgment in this case, and its implications for state-owned companies.