Looking down, her eyes turned away from the camera, SABC2's Morning Live presenter Leanne Manas on Tuesday morning told South African viewers the news that broke on Monday evening that "the reality is retrenchments are looming here at the SABC and nobody is being left out of this one".
Tuesday started off with a conveyor belt of SABC'ers doing interviews on the public broadcaster's SABC News (DStv 404) channel, but none were more schmarmy than the SABC chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini, as usual managing to say nothing of substance but filling dead air.
Instead of giving clear and concise answers to SABC staffers and viewers on Leanne Manas' important questions, Bongumusa Makhathini once again continued to deflect, obfuscate and utter sweet nothings, while using as many high-brow newspeak-legalese words and phrases that ordinary people won't understand.
Dressed in his grey suit, Bongumusa Makhathini as usual came chattering without substance, giving viewers a lot of polit-newspeak without any clear-cut answers and was careful to avoid taking responsibility or being tied down with any real answers.
"Even if we get a bailout tomorrow, we still need to tackle the cost structure, and the cost structure of the SABC is driven by a number of things. It's labour costs - that R3.1 billion. The second one is sports rights."
"In the past 6 years the SABC has lost about R2.3 billion as a result of sports rights which we haven't been able to commercialise," said Bongumusa Makhathini.
Bongumusa Makhathini however failed to mention that it's been happening because of the SABC's own mismanagement, ineptitude and self-inflicted incompetence.
The SABC buys broadcasting rights for once-off matches just days before broadcast - something that cost astronomically more than multiple match or tournament package deals. The SABC then doesn't have enough time to find advertisers and sponsors to book and sell ad spots.
The SABC's hurried late sports acquisitions then lead to abrupt schedule disruptions that force the SABC to do "make-good ads" for other ad buyers (original ads are not shown in the programming those advertisers bought but during sport, meaning the SABC has to show those ads again later without getting money).
Furthermore, viewers don't know that the SABC has sport - angering both those viewers who tune in then don't get the original programme and no apology or explanation, and viewers who find out afterwards that they missed sports programming they would have watched.
Leanne Manas then asked Bongumusa Makhathini what about the SABC's own Henley Studios, parts of which has been left to decay, and why the SABC isn't doing more with its own infrastructure.
Only two of the SABC's multiple weekday soap operas are filmed at the SABC, while the rest are outsourced and filmed at studios of other production companies in Johannesburg.
"We are looking at all these things that we've done that don't make commercial sense. We have to do more from the SABC facilities," Bongumusa Makhathini said.
Leanne Manas then reminded Bongumusa Makhathini that "internalising" productions will damage the wider South African TV industry and take work away from production companies.
"If I have to ask you, do you really care about those production houses, or is it that the SABC is your care; your concern?"
Bongumusa Makhathini looked momentarily perplexed as if realising he was caught out by going along with the previous question and his politically correct answer.
He however kept up his politico-speak platitudes, saying: "We care about all stakeholders but remember our employees are our main priority," raised his eyebrows.
"That's even why with our financial situation, we prioritise things like paying salaries because that to us is important. But at the end of the day we also have to make sure what is our contribution to the overall development of the overall broadcasting industry as the SABC - but not at the expense of our own employees."
"That is why 'interlising' a lot of these production opportunities is important," said Bongumusa Makhathini.
