SABC given Monday deadline to drop redundancy letters

CWU gives SABC until Monday to drop redundancy letters

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has threatened to intensify its strike at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) if the public broadcaster fails to withdraw redundancy letters handed to staff.

A picture taken on October 20, 2010 shows the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) headquarters in Johannesburg. South Africa's crisis-hit public broadcaster posted a modest profit in the first six months of the 2010 financial year after a financ
AFP

The SABC has suspended the retrenchment process, set to affect some 400 staffers, to the end of December.

But labour unions want the public broadcaster to do completely do away with the process.

CWU general-secretary Aubrey Tshabalala says the broadcaster has until Monday to withdraw the retrenchment letters.  

“The Communication Workers Union hand-delivered this memorandum on Friday, indicating the SABC must withdraw the dismissal letters whilst we are engaging in meaningful discussions over the next 30 days. 

“We further agreed with the company that we will have to engage in terms of reference of that particular meeting, so that when we deal with the structure, when we deal with alternatives if needs be, it will be the question of that we have dealt with the whole issue.

“We feel that if the SABC do not withdraw the letters of dismissal, it doesn’t legitimise the talks that we will have in the next 30 days. We feel that it will make the mockery of the whole process.”  

Tshabalala says the board and executives’ salary must be slashed in order to sustain the organisation.  

“It is time for this board to go. As for the executive, we have a CEO that earns way above the president and so far they have not, in the last three years that they have been here, generated any income revenue for SABC. 

“That shows you that we might be throwing money in a very huge hole we cannot recover and that is something we need to re-visit. The issue of bailout from time to time, it is a sign that SABC has been running as a business model that is not sustainable.”

Listen to more local news below Jacaranda
Jacaranda FM

Show's Stories