7.5.4 The Head of misrepresented the facts when he stated that studios 1 and 2 were destroyed in the Henley fire. Only studios 5 and 6 were affected. 7.5.5 Mr Motsoeneng, as chair of the Operations Committee approved the Vision View contract and unlawfully cancelled the tender the Bid Adjudications Committee had approved and recommended to the Group EXCO. This resulted in an irregular and unauthorised deviation process. 8. Questionable transactions 8.1 MultiChoice agreement 8.1.1 The agreement between pay-TV channel MultiChoice and the SABC has been surrounded by controversy since its inception. Three main issues sparked the controversy: the lack of transparency in the processing of the agreement; the “sale” of SABC archives which would result in the establishment of an entertainment channel SABC ENCORE; and the fact that the “sale” renders the two channels that broadcast SABC content inaccessible to the majority of South African citizens who do not have access to pay-tv. 8.1.2 From the information that was available to the Committee it is evident that the MultiChoice agreement was well underway by the time the 2013 Board was appointed. Evidence by a former Board member indicates that upon their appointment to the interim Board, they were presented with numerous documents for Board members’ information. These included the commercial and master channel distribution agreement between the SABC and MultiChoice. Minutes provided to the Committee by Ms Kalidass indicate that the interim Board had granted provisional approval of the proposal/agreement on 12 June 2013. 8.1.3 Some Board members raised concerns around the legal aspects of the contract between the SABC and MultiChoice, drawing attention to section 8 read with section 2 of the Broadcasting Act which related to the powers, objectives and parameters within which the SABC could operate, in particular. Based on these provisions it was suggested that the deal was unlawful.
Executive. He later learned that the contract which was eventually signed excluded any reference to the revenue sharing arrangement. 17.1.5 In his evidence Dr Ngubane had alluded to the fact that Mr Molefe’s visit to India while he was the acting GCEO had been linked to the controversial Gupta family. Mr Molefe indicates however that the visits he had undertaken were motivated for and approved, and were aimed at exploring possible content and skills partnerships with other national broadcasters, and part of benchmarking exercises in anticipation of the launch of a free-to-air 24-hour news service. The trip to India had been part of Board-approved international strategy to pursue partnerships with, amongst others the BBC in the United Kingdom, CCTV in China and Prasar Bharati in India. 17.1.6 In his evidence Dr Ngubane had denied the claim that he had attempted to force Mr Molefe to approve a R 500 000 salary increase for Mr Motsoeneng. In his response Mr Molefe insisted that the SABC’s record would reflect that Mr Motsoeneng’s salary had been increased by that amount, and later more. 17.2 Mr S Masinga 17.2.1 In relation to the amendment of the MOI, Mr Masinga provided that contradicted the Minister’s evidence as reflected in paragraph 8.1.2 in the Interim Report. Board minutes of a meeting that took place on 29 January 2015 indicated that Board members had raised concerns that the Minister had changed and registered the MOI without having consulted the Board. Members had raised concerns that the amendments may have resulted in the Board being stripped of its powers, but the proposal that an opinion on the legality of the amendment be sought was not pursued as it may have had implications for the relationship between the Shareholder Representative and the Board. Instead, it was agreed that the Minister would be invited to clarify the issue in a Board meeting. 17.2.2 Mr Masinga provided correspondence and a proposed agreement between the SABC and an entity called Applewood Trading 2006 (Pty) Ltd supported the evidence referred to in paragraph 7.2.1 of the Interim Report. The agreement was for the distribution of a 24-hour, seven-day commercial news channel for