Over the weekend I spoke to several sources inside SABC TV news who told me about ''a war of control'', ''scared journalists'', the anxiety and ''very unpleasant'' working conditions inside SABC News, as well as a ''atmosphere of fear'' where no permanent head of news has been appointed yet.
To find out what they've told me over the weekend, as well as the SABC's official reaction to all of this when I asked on Sunday, click on READ MORE below.
''A war over control'', ''an atmosphere of fear'' and ''scared journalists'' are the words several sources inside the SABC News division used, who all spoke to me over the weekend on condition of anonymity because of fear of losing their work.
I spoke to them after what they called ''a witchhunt'' in which Mahendra Raghunath got suspended and which they feel is part of the SABC TV News division's attack in Aucklandpark headquarters to squash any dissenting voices.
The SABC TV news readers Thembisa Marele and Isabelle de Taillefer has also been taken off the air immediately after they refused to sign new contracts that would decrease their income with up to 60%. They have now declared an official dispute and are represented by the trade union Uasa.
SABC News doesn't have a permanent head of news yet and Phil Molefe is currently the acting head of news. Not Mahendra Raghunath, Thembisa Marele or Isabelle de Taillefer spoke to me, but I found many willing insiders who were very scared, but willing to tell me what's going on.
''Governed by fear,'' said a source who has been working in the SABC TV News division for several years.
''The SABC news bosses think that if they can take out Raghunath as the main anchor of the SABC3 flagship news bulletin so blatantly, they can make what they're doing to him right now an example to the rest of us,'' said another. ''They want to show that they won't have any disobedience or dissenting voices,'' said another. ''He must now be an example of what can happen to us.''
''It's a very unpleasant place to work at,'' another source told me. ''The worker bees of the SABC's news division work really, really hard, but the people at the top have no idea what's going on here. Since last year the country is looking at the SABC and all the sad things happening here. The SABC's news division has been overlooked in a sense, and a massive turnaround is now needed.''
Another source who has been working there for years and years told me: ''There is an atmosphere of fear and anxiety in the news room. Molefe and his right hand man Manga are trying to quell any dissent.''
''What is needed now is a thorough investigation of the SABC news division by the new permanent SABC board. People in the SABC's news offices should be allowed to make presentations about everything that is going wrong here. The news bosses are using the news division as their own little kingdom and fiefdom and nobody here dare say or do anything.''
I asked the SABC for comment on all of this on Sunday but the SABC had no comment.
''It's an internal matter,'' SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago told me. ''I don't see why this has to be in the public domain.''
