SABC to appear before Parliament on Wednesday

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will brief the Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Communications on its 2021/22 annual performance plan and budget later on Wednesday.

Last week, the SABC also told Parliament that recent retrenchments would not have any impact on its coverage of the local government elections in October.

Both the Group Executive Madoda Mxakwe and Group Executive for News Phathiswa Magopeni assured members of the committee that the organisation had adequate resources to cover the elections.

SABC’s readiness for 2021 local government elections coverage  

[embedded content]

Retrenchments

In March, the Broadcasting, Electronic and Media and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) announced that it was contemplating taking legal action against the SABC over the recent retrenchments.

The announcement followed the completion of the Section 189 retrenchment process.

The public broadcaster said the workforce has been reduced by 621 staffers, far more than initially anticipated.

This includes those who took voluntary severance packages.

The SABC said this will ensure its long-term financial sustainability and capacity to fulfill its public mandate. But Bemawu and Communications Workers Union (CWU) maintain the process was unfair.

Bemawu threatens legal action following SABC retrenchments:

[embedded content]

Meanwhile, the South African Post Office (SAPO) will also brief the committee on its 2021/22 annual performance plan and budget tonight.