Start cutting at the SABC’s top

Nero supposedly took up a fiddle and stood atop the city walls, playing a tune while it burned to the ground. Could it be that the people running the national broadcaster, the SABC, are doing something similar as the corporation goes broke in spectacular fashion? That’s something to ponder, following reports this week that the corporation spent R14 million on a Metro FM event. Coupled with the news that the executives at the corporation pull in up to R5 million a year each, one wonders whether the top people are entertaining themselves as the financial conflagration consumes its Auckland Park headquarters.

The bean counters at the SABC are looking for a government handout of R3 billion just to survive and, even then, the retrenchments of upwards of 1 000 staffers and freelance workers will still be unavoidable.

One can sit and debate for a long time about how things reached this tragic state: the bloated numbers, comfortable lifestyle for the executive wing, the ruinous conduct of Hlaudi Motsoeneng and maybe even just the changing media landscape to which the SABC failed to adapt.

But, it’s time for harsh medicine. Cutting the top salaries and perks and stopping the parties would be a good way to start.