SABC chair Zandile Tshabalala on Thursday obtained an interim interdict in the Western Cape high court halting an inquiry into whether she lied about her academic qualifications.
The announcement was made during a meeting of parliament’s portfolio committee on communications, which was due to start the inquiry.
“On 23 October 2014, the judge ruled we may not proceed with the meeting,” committee chair Joyce Moloi-Moropa said.
MPs would have to wait until the judge ruled on the matter, to be heard on 3 November.
“On 22 October, Ms Tshabalala’s legal representatives served a notice of motion on the following: the speaker of the national assembly, the portfolio commitee on communications, the president of the Republic of South Africa and the minister of communications,” Moloi-Moropa said.
The notice of motion asked the court to determine whether the proceedings before the committee were a disciplinary hearing or not.
MPs insisted they were merely conducting an inquiry, but Tshabala said it was taking the form of a disciplinary hearing.
Tshabalala is accused of misrepresenting her academic qualifications when applying to the committee for the SABC job.
She stated on her CV that she had a BComm degree from the University of South Africa. Tshabalala claimed she held a post-graduate degree in labour relations.
Unisa has since stated that, according to its records, she had neither of the qualifications.
Democratic Alliance MP Gavin Davis described the interim interdict secured by Tshabalala as a “cynical attempt to tie the parliamentary inquiry into her qualifications up in legal knots”.
“Ms Tshablala is doing everything she can to draw attention away from the central issue: whether or not she lied to parliament about having obtained a BComm and diploma from Unisa. She has been given ample time and every opportunity to provide evidence of her qualifications, but has not done so,” Davis said.
“It was clear from the beginning that Ms Tshabalala was going to use every technicality her legal team could think of to delay the process. I sincerely hope that not a cent of public money is being used to pay her high-powered lawyers, and have submitted parliamentary questions in this regard. — Sapa
