Economist Lumkile Mondi says the SABC has to restructure to enable it to deliver on its mandate. He says it is unfortunate that there will be casualties, but it is important that the broadcaster is staffed with competent people.
The broadcaster has announced retrenchments of 981 of its permanent staff members and 1200 freelancers in its restructuring process to turnaround its fortunes.
The SABC says it’s collecting less revenue and is technically insolvent and unable to meet monthly commitments.
The SABC’s total revenue for the 2017/2018 financial year was R6.6 billion against a budget of R7.3 billion, signifying a 10% under performance.
Total expenditure amounted to R7.27 billion with the major costs drivers being employee costs at R3.1 billion.
The SABC says its major challenges include the current advertising cuts by clients, economic pressures, competition for advertising revenue and low TV licence revenue.
Communications minister Nomvula Mokonyane told parliament that the turnaround of the broadcaster could not be based on the laying off of workers, but a total review of the business and its funding model.
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