After a laborious morning in Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications, Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday named the 12 people they would recommend to serve on the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board.

Parties agreed on eight names – Khanyisile Kweyama, Mathatha Tsedu, Michael Markovitz, Nomvuyiso Batyi, Rachel Kalidass, Victor Rambau, John Matisonn, and Jack Phalane.

Choosing the last four names led to some debate and argument, with opposition parties vehemently opposed to the appointment of Krish Naidoo, a legal consultant for the African National Congress (ANC), and Febe Potgieter-Gqubule, who has aspirations to serve on the ruling party national executive committee.

Both are members of the SABC interim board and the ANC argued there was nothing wrong with their performance thus far. The opposition contended that both were political deployees.

The ANC said it would not budge, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) accusing the ruling party of “imposing their names on the committee”.

In the end Potgieter-Gqubule, Naidoo, Dinkwanyane Mohuba and Bongumusa Makhathini were added to the list of 12 non-executive directors who would ultimately serve on the board. The objections of the EFF and DA were recorded in the committee’s final report.

The committee would now submit the report to the National Assembly for adoption before it is sent to President Jacob Zuma, who will do the official appointments.