Union takes aim at SABC over wages

The collapse of governance and good management at the SABC has been the focus of several recent court cases.

The broadcaster's chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng is appealing against a Western Cape High Court order that he be suspended pending a disciplinary hearing, while chairwoman Ellen Tshabalala went to the same court in an attempt to block Parliament from conducting an inquiry into allegations that she had lied about her qualifications.

Mwasa said in court papers filed last week with the Labour Court in Johannesburg that Heunis was in contempt of court and in the absence of a satisfactory explanation he should be found guilty and arrested for a period to be determined by the court or be ordered to pay a fine, also to be determined by the court.

Maladministration, staff purges... the list goes on

The controversies surrounding Motsoeneng and Tshabalala highlighted the collapse of governance at the public broadcaster as well as issues of financial maladministration and purging of staff.

In court papers filed last week before the Labour Court in Braamfontein, Mwasa wanted Heunis to appear before court to explain why the SABC had failed to comply with a July order in terms of which a settlement agreement of May last year before the Commission for Conciliation and Mediation Association - which the SABC also failed to honour - was made legally binding and enforceable.

Motsoeneng... a string of charges

Mwasa general secretary Tuwani Gumani told Business Day in an interview that the SABC's sales commission scheme, which determines the financial rewards for employees in radio and television sales for meeting their sales targets - had not been reviewed since its inception in the early 2000s despite a clause stating that it should be reviewed every two years.

Gumani said that the sales staff, most of whom earned low basic salaries, were the actual people bringing in money for the public broadcaster, and people such as Motsoeneng and others were earning multiple times more than them.

The High Court in Cape Town had ordered the SABC board to suspend Motsoeneng and charge him with abuse of power, irregular appointments and inflating employee salaries, including his own.

"We have non-cooked (unqualified) people placing pressure on qualified professionals," Gumani said.

In a letter from its attorneys, Maserumule Inc, the SABC denied that it was in contempt of court because Mwasa "only communicated their demand for compliance by way of your letter dated 6 October 2014, more than two months after the order was granted".

"Our client has requested indulgence of not more than a few days and your client's response is to threaten an immediate contempt of court application, that in emotive terms as well," the letter said.

The SABC's lawyers said that bringing the application for contempt of court to court was also futile, and they promised that their compliance with the salary review would be effected before the matter could be heard in court.

Source: Business Day, via I-Net Bridge