SABC chair Zandile Tshabalala’s legal team will review a decision to remove her, and will probably apply for leave to appeal, she said on Friday.
“When we get the decision in writing, we will review it,” Tshabalala told reporters in Johannesburg.
On Wednesday, parliament’s communications portfolio committee resolved to recommend Tshabalala’s removal from office after an inquiry into whether she lied about her academic qualifications found her guilty on two charges of misconduct.
Tshabalala said on Friday she would provide her qualification when the matter went to court.
She insisted that she attained a qualification in 1996, and said the records of Unisa were “not my records”.
Unisa executive director for legal services Jan van Wyk told the inquiry its records showed that although Tshabalala registered for a BCom degree and a labour relations diploma, she failed to obtain either.
He testified that she registered for her BCom degree in 1988 and again in 1996, but did not complete her studies. She registered for a diploma in labour relations in 1995, but her results were so bad she could not be readmitted again. She scored 35% for a labour relations module and 13% for a human resources module.
“Unisa are having a myriad of record problems. It’s on their website,” an emotional Tshabalala said on Friday.
She said she first realised there was a problem when she applied for a job with Mercedes-Benz a few years ago.
“Upon research, they came back and said Unisa declined your qualification,” she said.
She then went to Unisa several times to try and obtain a copy of her academic record but had no luck, she said.
The first charge of misconduct against her relates to her stating on her CV that she had obtained the two qualifications when she applied for the job as SABC chair.
The other charge relates to an affidavit she submitted to parliament stating that the certificates of her qualifications were stolen during a burglary at her home.
Tshabalala has been given 14 working days to respond to the committee’s report, which contains its findings and recommendations. Both documents will then be sent to national assembly for approval.
On Thursday, the Democratic Alliance laid a charge of perjury against Tshabalala for lying about the theft of the certificates. — Sapa
