SABC reverses staff cuts
November 25, 2020
By Chris Forrester
Financially stretched South Africa Broadcasting (SABC) has cancelled plans to reduce its significantly over-staffed payroll by 400 jobs. A decision has been postponed until 2021, although extra pressures from government and unions might postpone any lay-offs indefinitely.
“The SABC board has extended the suspension of the section 189 process to the end of December 2020 to enable additional consultations. This decision followed further engagements with organised labour and other stakeholders,” SABC said in a statement.
Communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams and labour minister Thulas Nxesi met earlier this week with the SABC board.
“A functional SABC is in the interests of all South Africans. I am therefore determined to support efforts aimed at finding an amicable solution to the problem,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said in a statement.
The SABC board added that it will now “jointly work with all participating parties to further review the proposed structures with the intent to ensure that they are optimal and enabling to achieve the public mandate of the SABC”.