Tshabalala out, at last

(Image: SABC)

For more:

• Mail & Guardian: Tshabalala resigns as SABC chairperson... Few have played as hard to maintain their claim that they have 'done nothing wrong' as Tshabalala when faced with her own inability to produce proof of her 'qualifications'.

  Found to have lied and also been found guilty of misconduct, she apparently still refuses to admit any wrongdoing.

  She has finally, however, resigned.

  Spokesperson Mac Maharaj said President Jacob Zuma received and accepted her resignation as board member and chair. "The president thanks Ms Tshabalala for her contribution to the public broadcaster and wishes her all the best in her future endeavours," he said in a statement.

  There are some who might ask: "What contribution did she make to the SABC?"

• BD Live: SABC chairwoman Ellen Tshabalala resigns... There had been growing calls for the disgraced Tshabalala to be removed from the SABC board. This followed the findings of an inquiry by Parliament's communications portfolio committee, which found that she had lied and was also guilty of misconduct.

  Tshabalala had claimed in her CV that she had a BComm degree and a postgraduate diploma in labour relations from the University of South Africa (Unisa). In fact, she hadn't... not even close, and, moreover, had been barred from even repeating after achieving substandard results.

  Jan van Wyk, Unisa's executive director for legal services, told the parliamentary inquiry earlier this month that Tshabalala had registered for her BComm degree in both 1988 and 1996, but had failed to obtain the qualification, and also failed to obtain the diploma, for which she had registered in 1995.

  Earlier this month, the Democratic Alliance laid a criminal charge against Tshabalala for perjury.

Political parties welcome Tshabalala's departure...

• Politicsweb: Ellen Tshabalala's resignation long overdue - SACP... The South African Communist Party has welcomed the 'long-overdue' SABC board chair's resignation saying that the chair's departure is long overdue and must lay the basis for solving many other problems besieging the public broadcaster.

• Times Live: Let Tshabalala saga be a lesson to qualifications fraudsters: DA... The DA on Wednesday welcomed SABC board chairperson Tshabalala's resignation saying that her resignation is also an 'elegant solution' for Zuma who was under pressure to suspend her pending the outcome of the parliamentary process.

  MMA welcomes resignation

  Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) has also welcomed Tshabalala's resignation but says that while the outcome is positive "we cannot lose sight on the importance of good governance at the SABC, as well as to ensure appropriate accountability mechanisms are put into place. This is imperative if we are to avoid similar incidents in the future.

  "As a start we call on the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications to ensure that when they seek to appoint new members to the SABC Board, that those who are shortlisted for interviews have their CV's put up on the Parliament Committee website so that members of the public can access and help parliament ensure suitable candidates are appointed.

  "While the resignation brings to an end formal relations, it is important that we establish what measures will be taken against Tshabalala if indeed she had lied about her qualifications. If these allegations are true, surely appropriate action must be taken? Without it the public will forever be in the dark, they will either be unsure as to the validity of the allegations, or they will assume that if one does wrong all one needs do is to resign. In both cases they serve to undermine the role of parliament and the credibility of the SABC."

  There are also some people who wonder if Unisa might not have a case against Tshabalala, for claiming that that organisation's records 'had been doctored'.

  Tshabalala is only one of an ever longer list of individuals who have falsely claimed to have had qualifications that they actually do not have.