The Sport, Arts and Culture Ministry came in for criticism for rejecting the proposed board members for the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) because Minister Gayton McKenzie took issue that there was no white person selected.
This emerged when the sport, arts and culture portfolio committee discussed the letter McKenzie wrote, rejecting the PanSALB board nominees, after the committee made its recommendation on its preferred candidates.
The committee heard that former minister Zizi Kodwa in consultation with the committee appointed an ad hoc committee which facilitated the process of inviting the members of the public to nominate persons for the appointment to serve on the board last year.
The nominations were forwarded to the portfolio committee in January this year and a report was adopted and tabled in the last Parliament in March, but due to time constraints it was not considered by the National Assembly before the end of the parliamentary term.
The newly appointed committee revived the lapsed report rather than restarting the process of appointing a new PanSALB board in August 2024.
It recommended 19 candidates to be considered by McKenzie for the appointment to the 15-member board.
Parliamentary legal advisor Herman Tembe said the Minister was empowered to make appointments after consultation with the committee. He said McKenzie complained about the alleged exclusion of white people and previously white serving members from the final list.
“The Minister’s argument and basis is unfounded and is not based in law that regulates persons eligible to be appointed as members of the board.”
Tembe also said individuals that previously served on the board were not eligible for re-appointment once their terms had expired.
“The true interpretation of the re-appointment does not mean renewal, let alone automatic renewal,” he said.
He recommended that the committee engage with McKenzie on the issue so that they could find each other and a board be appointed for PanSALB.
Committee chairperson Joe McGluwa noted that they learnt of McKenzie‘s rejection of the proposed board from a recent news report. “I understand that the Minister is still new but he must come more to Parliament to understand Parliament and processes,” McGluwa said.
He also said the law was very clear that the Minister after consultation with the portfolio committee shall appoint members of board from the number of persons appearing on the final shortlist.
EFF MP Eugene Mthethwa said the interviews for the board were done in a free and fair process.
“We did not select people randomly. If the Minister thinks colour determines capabilities, he must go to the apartheid era,” said Mthethwa, who served in the previous committee.
Freedom Front MP Corne Mulder said: “He (McKenzie) needs to consult but the decision lies with the Minister.
If he is not happy, he can refer it back.” ANC MP Ethel Nkosi said it was incorrect for McKenzie to overlook the committee.”
McKenzie’s spokesperson Chade Kramer said the Minister had briefed the committee prior to the meeting held.
“(The) Minister tabled his dissatisfaction in the committee on 29 October 2024, expressing his pain upon the discovery that the board is not multi racial. Minister asked the committee: ‘I speak Afrikaans, who on that committee speaks Afrikaans?’.
“The committee did not respond to this question.
“(The) Minister emphasises his vision for a PanSALB board that includes all races and the exclusion of none. Minister McKenzie unapologetically fights for Coloureds, Indians, Whites and Blacks to be seen as Africans and not categorised in a particular racial classification but as one, the inclusion of a white person on the board represents this well.”
Cape Times