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Sleepless nights for SABC employees amid retrenchments

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South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) employees at the public broadcaster’s headquarters in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, say they are stressed due to uncertainties about their future amid the retrenchment process.

The SABC has suspended the issuing of more redundancy and surplus letters until the end of December to allow for further consultation with staff, unions and others.

The public broadcaster intends to retrench 400 permanent workers according to its new structure.

But some staff say the situation is giving them sleepless nights. A number have been picketing at lunch hour.

Workers have rejected the SABC board’s decision to extend the retrenchment process by 30 days. They say they want the process to be abolished and that no-one should lose their job.

“As you can imagine our livelihoods are on the line here. Some of us have been here for the past 15 years and for the past four years every time this time of the year we are outside here, either picketing for an increment or picketing to save our jobs. Last time, we were out here protesting and trying to save our jobs. This year we are out again-when is it going to end? We are having sleepless nights. How do you explain the amount of stress we are dealing with. It is quite demoralising because of the situation that is happening at this stage. Job losses are affecting us,” an employee explains.

Other employees in KwaZulu-Natal say they are unable to fully perform their duties with the retrenchment letters still hanging over their heads.

Employees believe that the new structure the SABC will implement will not only affect workers but also listeners in rural areas.

Another one says, “It’s horrible and there are so many questions in your head but at least you get a list of dates, and to some extent, you make your peace with it. And then because someone didn’t do their job properly the dates are moved. KwaZulu-Natal is a very big province. I feel that this new structure will not work in this province and it’s going to deprive people, especially in the deep rural areas the right and an opportunity to voice their concerns. There’s a lot of anxiety affecting so many of us and I’m sure they can feel and see that production is not the same. To me, it means that I’m fully dismissed.”

Bemawu continues with its legal quest on Friday to halt Section 189: 

Parliament to debate SABC crisis 

The IFP says it’s called for Parliament to debate the crisis at the SABC because in their view the situation will not be resolved without outside independent help as the parties are currently at loggerheads and this is to the detriment of the public.

The IFP’s Narend Singh says the country needs the impasse to end at the public broadcaster.

“The board on the one hand and the unions are conflicted in that they’re trying to talk about their own issues. What we are going to be proposing amongst others is that one gets an independent consultant or firm of consultants that are au fait with matters of media; look at the SABC, look at the staff structure and make recommendations that will be independent and that will advise the way forward and I think the Minister herself has to be directed by that kind of response. We cannot allow the public broadcaster to be run in the manner that it is run currently.”

Previewing Parliament’s snap debate on SABC: Narend Singh

 

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