Lawyers for the Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) have served the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) with a letter of demand over its planned retrenchments.
Bemawu wants, among other things, that the SABC confirms in writing that it will return to the consultative process with immediate effect.
The letter also demands a written undertaking from the public broadcaster that no members affiliated to Bemawu will be dismissed.
The union threatens that it will approach the Labour Court should the SABC not accede to the demands of its members.
Bemawu President, Hannes du Boisson, says: “We can confirm that we’ve served the SABC today (Friday) with a letter of demand from our lawyers to put them on terms to give them a deadline to respond to us, to confirm that they will return properly and further consult with us. There’s a number of issues that we have not consulted on and if the SABC is not going to accede to that very reasonable request on our side then we will draft papers and serve the SABC with an urgent interdict.”
Talks between the SABC and unions on the Section 189 process have broken down. Their last meeting was at the CCMA last week.
Below is Bemawu’s letter of demand:
Scopa
On Friday, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) visited the public broadcaster’s head office in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, to get first-hand information on the financial affairs of the organisation.
The committee says there are discrepancies in the information provided by SABC management and the data in the company’s annual financial statement.
In the video below, Chair of Scopa, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, is being interviewed:
