A plea of not guilty was entered on behalf of SABC chairwoman Ellen Tshabalala today as a parliamentary inquiry into whether she lied about her academic qualifications went ahead in her absence.
Evidence leader Ntuthuzelo Vanara entered the plea after a request by Tshabalala’s attorney for a postponement was denied.
Michael Tillney, for Tshabalala, told Parliament’s communications portfolio committee his client would not plead to the charges of misconduct against her.
Instead, Tillney read out an affidavit from his client in which she cites “procedural unfairness” as a reason for not being at the inquiry.
“There are allegations of procedural unfairness in the convening of this meeting today [Wednesday] and also there’s the application for leave to appeal,” said Tillney.
Tshabalala has filed notice of leave to appeal a Western Cape High Court order refusing her bid to halt the parliamentary inquiry.
“The effect of this should be to postpone the hearing of the inquiry pending the outcome of the appeal,” Tshabalala said in her affidavit.
Tshabalala wants time to produce forensic evidence in her defence.
An irate committee chairwoman Joyce Moloi-Moropa indicated MPs had already “bended over backwards” to accommodate Tshabalala.
On advice from Vanara, the committee decided to proceed in Tshabalala’s absence.
Tshabalala is accused of stating on her CV that she had a BComm degree from the University of SA (Unisa) and a post-graduate degree in labour relations.
Unisa has since stated that, according to its records, she has neither of these qualifications.
Source: Dispatchlive
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