Financial worries for SABC deepen
July 17, 2023
By Chris Forrester
South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC is reportedly “teetering on the edge of financial collapse”.
SABC’s CFO Yolande van Biljon has written to the SABC Board of Directors warning that the broadcaster is facing a very real risk of requiring a business rescue such is the shortage of funding.
She added that without urgent intervention, the SABC will once again find itself unable to pay bills and suppliers in the coming months and told the SABC board: “Leadership is absent currently, and there is no cohesion or sense of urgency in the executive team. The corporation is on autopilot.”
Government stumped up a R3.2-billion (about €99m) bailout in 2019 in the form of a loan guarantee, but the broadcaster is again struggling to pay its debts.
The SABC is expected to post a financial loss of more than R1-billion for the 2022/2023 financial year. It had a deficit of R608 million in the previous year.
President Cyril Ramaphosa reportedly has delayed appointing a new SABC board, reportedly because parliament’s recommendation of three additional candidates meant he would have been acting unlawfully had he upheld its recommendations.