A group of South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) employees embarked on a lunch-hour picket at the public broadcaster’s headquarters in Johannesburg today.
They were joined by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) members who sang protest songs against the SABC’s restructuring plans which could see 400 permanent staff members retrenched.
The SABC is expected to start issuing dismissal letters today. The public broadcaster says the restructuring is aimed at making the company financially sustainable.
Trade union Bemawu has already lodged a court application to stop the dismissals. The National Union of Metalworkers (NUMSA) has also spoken out against the public broadcaster’s plans.
NUMSA supports protests by workers at the SABC
NUMSA spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola: “We support the demands of workers at the SABC and the Section 192 Movement wholeheartedly and we will lend our support, wherever possible in their struggle to retain jobs and to remain a publicly owned entity. The working class in South Africa is under attack and at this crucial time, unity and solidarity is more important now more than ever.”
