The Film and Publication Board (FPB) council has suspended CEO Dr Mashilo Boloka.
In a letter dated 7 August, addressed to staff members, which ITWeb has seen, the FPB council says it has decided to place the CEO on precautionary suspension.
The council’s brief notice doesn’t provide reasons for the move. It reads: “During the process of his suspension, the council has decided to appoint [advocate] Makhosazana Lindhorst as the acting CEO until further notice. The council remains committed to ensuring stability and good governance as due processes are unfolding.
“FPB staff members are urged to support the acting CEO in ensuring the organisation continues to deliver on its mandate.”
The notice further reveals that the council planned to have a formal engagement with staff members yesterday, 13 August.
ITWeb requested comment from the entity several times, but none was forthcoming by the time of publication.
Boloka initially served as FPB interim CEO until his official appointment on 1 December 2022, as noted in a Cabinet statement.
In November 2022, he was appointed to the new six-member board of the INHOPE international organisation.
Last September, he joined the Global Online Safety Regulators Network as vice-chairperson, for a one-year term until 2024. This, after the FPB announced its membership to the global network in June 2023.
The network, officially unveiled in November 2022, was founded as part of a collaboration between online safety regulators – Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Fiji’s Online Safety Commission and the UK’s Ofcom – with support from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
Boloka’s LinkedIn profile shows that prior to the FPB, he served as public entities oversight specialist at the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT). He was acting director-general of the then-Department of Communications in 2018, as well as director of the Media Development and Diversity Agency.
He also served as acting CEO of the Universal Service and Access Agency of SA, taking the role after the departure of Lumko Mtimde.
Boloka holds a PhD in communication and media studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
An entity of the DCDT, the FPB is the official content-classification authority for films, games and certain publications.
More recently, it has been mandated to be digital content regulator and educator for certain online content, in line with the Films and Publications Amendment Act that came into operation on 1 March 2022.
The Act seeks to modernise laws that protect the South African public from exposure to prohibited content distributed online, as well as ensuring children are not exposed to harmful digital content.
The FPB has staved off some of the governance troubles that face state-owned entities and is often cited as one of the few DCDT entities to receive a clean audit.
Incumbent DCDT minister Solly Malatsi recently told ITWeb that his portfolio is made up of a “mixed-bag” of entities, with some run really well, while others are going through phases of transitioning from difficult past moments.
However, restoring governance and ensuring there are permanent executives to head up some of the DCDT entities is among the minister’s top priorities.
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