Tug of war at SABC

The union's members, who are in the marketing department of the SABC, are demanding that the acting chief executive: commercial enterprises, Strini Naicker, be removed permanently from his post.

The workers' grievances are based their objections to what they view to be unilateral changes to conditions of service, nepotism and favouritism, and wasteful expenditure.

In a statement on its website, the union says “We also resolved to make a call to the Department of Communications and Treasury and also to petition the Presidency to investigate these matters before any money can be released to the SABC. We are also currently working with civil society organisations in an endeavour to address the current carnage led by the out-of-sorts board,” reads the statement.

These developments at the public broadcaster's head offices come after the SABC admitted that it is running on a deficit of more than R700 million, which has been blamed on the current funding model.

The workers' web site, however, blames wasteful expenditure - alleging that some managers earn huge salaries, including the chief financial officer, who, they claim, is paid a monthly retention bonus. The union also claims there has been mismanagement of the corporation for some time and that the board itself has been wasting a lot of money in out-of-court settlements.

For more:

• iafrica.com: SABC staff stage a sit-in