Former South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) Chief Operations Officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng says he earned under R4 million when he was still at the public broadcaster.
On Thursday, Communications Minister Nomvula Mokonyane revealed that the top three executives earn a total of over R12 million, with the current COO Chris Maroleng earning 4.03 million.
Motsoeneng says he is tired of being blamed for the woes at the public broadcaster as he referred to the plans to lay off 981 permanent staff and over a thousand freelancers.
“My package was R3.8 per annum. I don’t know what this other COO is getting but myself it was R3.8 per annum but I am concerned about the campaign taken by the SABC to tarnish our name without any facts, even misleading the public on the situation of the SABC. When I was at the SABC, I am the one who saved 800 employees,”says Hlaudi.
SABC technically insolvent
SABC Group CEO, Madoda Mxakwe, said that the public broadcaster is technically insolvent and is unable to fulfill its monthly obligations.
Mxokwe said the wage bill has been identified as one of the key constraints. He says the R3 billion wage bill makes up 40% of the company’s total revenue. However, Mxakwe denies allegations of a more costly and bloated management structure.
Earlier this year, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) identified R428 million in irregular expenditure incurred by the SABC during former COO Hlaudi Mostsoeneng’s tenure.
These include eight procurement matters amounting to R275 million, and the appointment of 16 consultants to the tune of R152 million. This emitted from its 2011 investigation report and the terms of reference for the 2017 SABC investigation.
The report laid bare the extent of poor corporate governance at the public broadcaster. Some of the cases were referred to the NPA for prosecutions, and individual beneficiaries of dodgy payments have been identified.
SABC: FACTUAL SABC INFORMATION ON THE REMUNERATION PACKAGES OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS (Text)
