Johannesburg - SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng called a press conference on Wednesday where he asked the outgoing general executive of commercial enterprises, Anton Heunis, to announce his successor.
Nomsa Philiso, general manager at sales operations at the public broadcaster, is set to take over from Heunis, who is stepping down after 35 years with the SABC.
Heunis would not be leaving immediately, however, he would be staying on to do the handover. Motsoeneng refused to disclose for how long.
Motsoeneng praised Heunis for the work he did for the SABC as acting Group Chief Executive and in turning the finances around when the SABC had to apply austerity measures about five years ago.
“Anton was the only white person here, but when I see him, I don’t see a white person, and when he sees me, he doesn’t see a black person,” Motsoeneng said.
He expressed concern about the top management of the SABC being all black following Heunis’s departure, and added that it should ideally reflect the diversity of the country. He said an all-white management was wrong too.
Philiso made a brief speech in which she emphasised the importance of commercial enterprises, saying 80% of the SABC’s revenue came from there.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago, thanking the media for attending the press conference on short notice, said many journalists thought it was an April Fool’s joke.
“Sales is important and our clients and those outside should know about this appointment,” he said.
Heunis was last year chosen over Motsoeneng to be SABC acting group CEO by Communications Minister Faith Muthambi, but when Heunis fell ill while in the job, Motsoeneng acted in his place.