Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Leah Potgieter MP.
– Three individuals served on three public entities at once.
– Overlapping appointments raise questions about governance and due diligence.
– DA to pursue full appointment records and disclosures.
Minister McKenzie’s recent dissolution of his own appointed National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) Council, citing governance concerns, has once again raised serious questions about his appointment of the same individuals to multiple public entities he ultimately controls.
Three individuals in particular highlight the extent of these overlaps: Simon Clarke, Omphemetse Mokgosi and Siphosethu Mtamzeli. Before the NFVF Council was dissolved on Wednesday, 23 September, all three simultaneously served on the NFVF Council, the Board of the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), and the National Arts Council (NAC).
The JRA connection is particularly significant. The JRA falls under the City of Johannesburg’s Transport Portfolio, led by Patriotic Alliance (PA) Deputy President Kenny Kunene. Simon Clarke chairs the JRA Board, while Omphemetse Mokgosi and Siphosethu Mtamzeli serve as Non-Executive Directors.
The JRA currently faces serious governance and service-delivery problems. Under the current JRA Board, road maintenance and road repair projects have suffered serious contractual and payment problems, including the repair of Lilian Ngoyi Street, arguably one of Africa’s most expensive road repairs.
In addition, the overlap with the NAC is also significant, as Minister McKenzie tried, and failed, to dissolve the Council he initially appointed after what he described as a breakdown in its institutional leadership and governance. Notably, the current NAC Chairperson is Eugene Botha, who has well-documented ties to the PA. He has previously served as the PA’s National Head of Elections, Legal Affairs, and even Minister McKenzie’s personal attorney and strategic adviser.
These overlaps are highly significant. The same individuals have been entrusted with governance responsibilities across three separate public entities at a time when each entity has faced significant operational, governance, or service-delivery concerns.
These concerns already form part of the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) complaint and supplementary filing to the Public Protector, highlighting the appointment of PA-connected individuals to councils of public entities like the NFVF and the NAC.
The governance history of the two national arts entities makes questions around their appointment processes particularly important.
Why are the same individuals being selected to govern multiple public bodies? What assessment is made of whether they have the capacity to properly fulfil all of these responsibilities? What political, business and other interests are declared? And what due diligence is undertaken before these appointments are approved?
Multiple board membership is not automatically improper. But where the same individuals appear across several public entities facing significant governance and operational problems, alongside documented political relationships involving senior appointees, Parliament and the public are entitled to know how and why those selections were made.
The DA will formally pursue outstanding requests for the full NFVF and NAC appointment records, including nominations, shortlisting and scoring records, declarations of interest and declarations of other board memberships.
Minister McKenzie relied on governance concerns to dissolve both councils, making scrutiny of how these boards were constituted now unavoidable.