Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the department will support the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to be exempted from certain clauses of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). She says this will assist in bringing the public broadcaster to financial stability.
Ntshavheni made this revelation during a virtual meeting between the SABC and NCOP’s Select Community on Public Enterprises and Communications on Wednesday.
“SABC has requested for an exemption on certain clauses of the PFMA and from the department’s side, we are going to support the SABC on that request for exemption with the National Treasury. Because that request for exemption will allow the SABC to turn around quicker in terms of their supply chain processes. But also to turn around quicker in terms of improving the position of the entity to as to ensure that the public broadcaster is sustainable.”
Meanwhile, EFF member of the Select Committee Andrew Arnolds has raised skepticism about PFMA exemptions for the Public Broadcaster.
“But now that we are hearing that there is a process of PFMA exemption, how is the SABC going to ensure that it doesn’t find itself again on the wrong side.”
The SABC was also told to give a reflection of what is happening in its provincial offices whenever they make presentations to the NCOP in the future.
NCOP House Chairperson and ANC member of the Select Committee on Public Enterprises and Communications Jomo Nyambi made this call. Nyambi told the SABC executive that he is aware of an Acting position of Business Manager which has not yet been filled in Mpumalanga.
“I know that the SABC has got a footprint in almost all these provinces that we are representing in the NCOP. So it’s going to be a very good thing for us to have a sense of the situation of these provinces that we are representing and understand what the SABC is doing. Of course not be deprived of having (an) understanding of what is happening at a national level. But also it will be good for a person like myself who is representing Mpumalanga to see the status in Mpumalanga, same with yourself in Limpopo, same with Mama (Winnie Ngwenya) in Gauteng.”
In response to the questions, SABC Group Executive of Human resources Mojaki Mosia told the Select Committee that almost all the vacant business and regional management positions would have been filled by the end of the year.
“Of all those, we have eight in all. Either eight Business managers and/or eight regional managers. In both, we are left with one or two vacancies. And some of them are in process. We will close the year with almost all of them being filled. We’ll be left with plus-minus one or two.”
Improve revenue generation
SABC CEO Madoda Mxakwe says the public broadcaster’s revenue generation has been improving on a monthly and quarterly basis despite the current strained economic environment.
He says the SABC News has also achieved 97% of its turnaround strategy but still needs to work hard to grow revenue for sustainability.
Mxakwe virtually briefed the NCOP’s Select Committee on Public Enterprises and Communications on the SABC’s plans to address its operational and financial challenges.
“When we got even the bailout, there were certain preconditions that came with a variety of activities in line with all our strategic pillars as the SABC. These have been properly fulfilled and thanks to the commitment and the hard work of all the SABC employees that have ensured that we are now at 93% of implementation of the turnaround plan. But the very important thing for us is to ensure that we develop a huge appetite when it comes to revenue growth and we have seen particularly in a very strained economic environment that month-on-month and quarter-to-quarter, we have significantly improved when it comes to revenue generation.”
Speaking in his opening remarks, SABC Board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini says it is important for Pay-TV industry roleplayers to help in the collection of TV licence fees.
Currently, some SABC channels and content are aired for free on DTSV. Makhathini says the proposal for future TV license collection will need Pay-TV roleplayers on board.
“Our bid to collect revenue from the TV license, we have made submission on that in terms of how we see the future of TV licenses, but our ability to collect as much as we can in that area is really getting Pay TV (role)players assisting us in those efforts of collecting. It’s important. Of course, with the pandemic, there is a decline in advertising revenue and the SABC, of course, is also affected by what is happening globally in terms of our ability to attract advertising revenue because of the pandemic.”
