SABC unions and staff appear before Parliament to discuss turnaround plans and envisaged retrenchments.
On Tuesday, the public broadcaster’s Board was sent packing for failing to address questions related to its turnaround strategy. The SABC had previously told parliament that it needed to cut its salary bill by up to R700-million by reducing its workforce and was asked to provide more detail.
The Communications Ministry has said that as the SABC’s sole shareholder, it has every right to order the public broadcaster’s board and management to suspend the planned retrenchment of 600 permanent staff and 1 200 freelancers.
Members of the ANC were adamant last night that there was no basis to continue with the public broadcaster’s presentation until they addressed questions related to the turnaround strategy.
The virtual briefing is continuing on Wednesday with union representatives, the editorial forum, non-unionized workers and other stakeholders expected to make submissions to the Portfolio Committee on Communications on the retrenchment of workers.
