Minister and SABC at odds over staff cuts
● Communications minister Nomvula Mokonyane has accused the SABC board of turning down help from the government to turn around the public broadcaster to avoid retrenchments.
Mokonyane told the Sunday Times this week that the board was under the impression that it could “fix the SABC alone”.
The board has been given an ultimatum to present an alternative plan to the expected retrenchments before the directors present their turnaround strategy to parliament on Tuesday.
Mokonyane chastised the board for refusing to co-operate with her department and the National Treasury in trying to avert planned jobs cut of 800 employees.
“There is an assumption from the board that they have the ability to turn things around alone. And it won’t work that way.” Job cuts would be disastrous and the board had to explore other cost-saving measures, Mokonyane said.
The board chairman, Bongumusa Makhathini, told parliament last month that the SABC owed creditors R694m.
Mokonyane asked why the board had not disclosed plans to retrench during its annual meeting two weeks ago.
Despite Mokonyane voicing opposition to the retrenchments, the board told staff that job cuts would go ahead. Employees received a letter on Tuesday saying the retrenchments were still on.
This infuriated Mokonyane.
“[Because of] how people related with the minister in the past, people [the board] still believe that they can then act on what the court has ruled and not on what their mandate is.”
SABC spokesperson Neo Momodu would not comment on detailed questions sent to her.
She referred to an earlier statement that said the retrenchments would be part of “cost-cutting measures, which includes the assessment of key cost drivers, in order to make the organisation financially sustainable and fit for purpose”.
Mokonyane said the SABC board was using a judgment by the high court in Pretoria to assert its independence and shield itself from the minister.
She insisted that she did not want to interfere in the operations of the broadcaster but that it “should not forget their mandate”.
The minister said she had convinced finance minister Nhlanhla Nene to put together a team of Treasury officials to assist the SABC but this had met with resistance.
“Treasury has a turnaround team that can look at the financials and advise. That’s what we are saying … bring everything, whatever you have done, bring it to Treasury and to us. Let us work together and look at all permutations so that then we are given options.
“Let’s be given options, that we tried this, this did not work … And that team is ready and waiting for this kind of collaboration,” said Mokonyane.