The CCMA orders ANN7 to pay its fired news presenter Asanda Magaqa R500 000 over unfair dismissal and to reinstate her immediately.

The CCMA has ordered the Infinity Media run TV news channel ANN7 (DStv 405) to pay its fired news presenter Asanda Magaqa R500 000 due to unfair dismissal and to immediately reinstate her.

Asanda Magaqa presented shows like Between the Lines and the companion show I am South African in the run-up to the first South African of the Year Awards but then infamously didn't host it.

Tensions started between Asanda Magaqa and ANN7 management when she was supposed to host The South African of the Year Awards but was dumped shortly before it. She was fired in November 2014 and Between the Lines was abruptly stopped. ANN7 said Between the Lines would return later as a retooled show. It never did.

ANN7 didn't respond to a media enquiry made last week regarding the order from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in Asanda Magaqa's case and the finding over ANN7's unfair dismissal.

"The dismissal of the applicant was both procedurally and substantially unfair," says the CCMA which ordered Infinity Media to pay Asanda Magaqa R500 000, or 10 months' salary and to immediately reinstate her.

"ANN7 is ordered to retrospectively reinstate the applicant with no loss of benefits with effect from the date of her dismissal - 24 November 2014. The respondent is further ordered to pay the applicant an amount of R500 000 which is equivalent to ten months' salary as back pay. This order must be complied with no later that 19 October 2015," ordered the CCMA.

It's not clear whether Asanda Magaqa, who is a member of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), would actually return to ANN7.

In a scathing farewell letter last year Asanda Magaqa wrote about ANN7's "blatant persecution of employees" and alleged "desperation" to "each new week, find a new charge to bring against me yet they could not feign a semblance of focus and order and conclude the disciplinary inquiry".

"I knew the inquiry was a farce, nothing more than a kangaroo court comprising a lynch mob as some of you will soon learn when you face your own inquiries."

After last week's CCMA order Asanda Magaqa tweeted a "thank you my friends. Your messages gave me strength" and that "your prayers kept me going".

"Media workers are workers too," says Cosatu in a statement, welcoming the CCMA ruling for Asanda Magaqa to be reinstated at ANN7.

Since before ANN7 launched and after it's embarrassing start in August 2013 on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform, the Gupta owned TV news channel has constantly remained more in the news for the eye-popping and tumultuous personnel and human resources drama happening behind the scenes at its Midrand based headquarters than for anything else.

In August an ANN7 journalist physically attacked and assaulted the channel's own news editor Abhinav Sahay in the ANN7 Midrand newsroom.

Now Gladys Sithole has become the latest ANN7 defection with the news anchor who left the channel where she was the fill-in anchor of ANN7 Prime and anchored Africa Tonight. Gladys Sithole was with ANN7 since launch and left last week to become the head of news at Hot 91.9fm. There was no announcement from ANN7 nor a media advisory about her replacement.

Gladys Sithole's exit is the latest in the exodus of on-air talent from ANN7 over the past two years including Hajra Omarjee who represented Asanda Magaqa in her disciplinary hearing, chief anchor Chantal Rutter Dros, Tyron Cosway and the hyped hire of Gerry Rantseli-Elsdon who lasted only a few months.

Executive Dave McGregor quit last year, as did assignments editor Clinton Nagoor. The former ANN7 editor Rajesh Sundaram who fled the news station promised to write a tell-all book Indentured: Behind the Scenes at Gupta TV, but the book plan was killed.

In October 2013 the department of home affairs ordered four foreigners helping ANN7 to leave who had overstayed their visitor visa permit conditions.

Chantal Rutter Dros quits ANN7 as its main news anchor; staff discord and internal unhappiness permeates Infinity Media's news channel on DStv.

Chantal Rutter Dros is quitting the struggling ANN7 (DStv 405) and will be reading her final TV news bulletin on ANN Prime tonight while staff discord, internal unhappiness, and multiple personnel exits continue to rock South Africa's third 24-hour TV-news channel from Infinity Media known as "Gupta TV".

Chantal Rutter Dros has been ANN7's main news anchor and highest profile get when ANN7 started with a disastrous launch in August last year on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform. The channel came in for ongoing public mockery for its litany of on-air mistakes and amateur news readers - mostly female models - struggling to read and pronounce words and names correctly.

Since then the TV-news channel which has pumped hundreds of millions of rand into its operations in Midrand has worked hard to gain credibility but it's been difficult with ongoing on-air mistakes which makes it hard for viewers to trust ANN7's coverage or take it seriously.

The death and funeral coverage of Nelson Mandela, as well as the South African of the Year Awards 2014 which were both successfully executed projects helped to improve ANN7's public image.

Chantal Rutter Dros confirmed to TV with Thinus that she is leaving; asked why and what she will be doing next, she said that she "resigned for personal reasons. My last day is December 3. I am taking December off and I will evaluate my options in January".

She said that she is "not at liberty to comment on any of the other resignations as that is a station matter".

ANN7 told TV with Thinus it would announce a replacement for Chantal Rutter Dros "soon" but has been been silent; it's not clear who will be sitting behind the anchor desk at ANN7 Prime tomorrow night.

ANN7 was also only willing to say that Chantal Rutter Dros resigned for personal reasons.

Earlier this year Gerry Rantseli-Elsdon and her show Vuka Africa were gone from ANN7 barely months after the breakfast show was launched with big fanfare. ANN7's morning has been retooled with the credible Peter van Onselen and a straight news approach.

Also suddenly gone from ANN7 is the highly respected Dave McGregor who was the general manager for operations at ANN7.

ANN7 confirmed Dave McGregor's departure and tells TV with Thinus "Dave resigned in October citing personal reasons and his position has been taken by Quraysh Patel".

Quraysh Patel who worked at the IBA, the frontrunner of the current South African broadcasting regulator, Icasa, worked at e.tv as channel director and COO, later joined SABC3 and was chairperson of the Sentech board in 2010.

Also gone from ANN7 is Asanda Magaqa who was escorted off the ANN7 premises and her weekend show, Between the Lines, cancelled.

Tensions started between Asanda Magaqa and ANN7 management when she presented the daily South African of the Year Awards inserts and interviews and was supposed to host the awards, only to be dumped shortly before the ceremony for allegedly asking too much money.

"Between the Lines has been postponed for now to rework the structure of the programme and presentation due to the declining viewership numbers," says ANN7. 

"We are also resolving staff contractual issues. We will bring back the revamped show with the new features to make it more attractive to the viewers."

Also gone is the respected assignments editor Clinton Nagoor who also quit. It's not clear whether Hajra Omarjee is staying with ANN7 or also heading towards the door.

Internally, according to reports, ANN7 is a hotbed of unhappiness and staff discord, with personnel allegedly tired and fed-up with low pay, bad treatment, grueling working conditions and cost cutting.

Asked if ANN7 believe workers are treated unfairly the news channel on DStv says "all employees are treated fairly".

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) submitted a list of grievances to ANN7 management, alleging poor pay, forced overtime without pay, a shortage of vehicles to cover the news, no sick bay, unfair labour practices and ill-treatment of staff.

ANN7 tells TV with Thinus the CWU demands are "a figment of someone's very fertile imagination".

According to insiders MultiChoice is not happy with the performance of ANN7 this year, although it's not clear whether its in regard to viewership numbers, channel content like visuals and sound, news quality or other aspects.

According to insiders ANN7 has also struggled to attract advertisers who want to be associated with the channel. 

MultiChoice in response to a media enquiry is only willing to say "we constantly monitor and review the performance of all channels on DStv. We don't comment on the performance of individual channels, as we engage directly with them if there are any specific issues".

ANN7 adds new media monitoring show, Between the Lines, with Asanda Magaqa on Sundays at 09:00.

ANN7 (DStv 405) continues to broaden its current affairs programming, adding Between the Lines with presenter Asanda Magaqa to the 24-hour TV news channel's programming line up on Sundays at 09:00 and repeated at 16:30.

DStv subscribers won't be able to yet set a reminder or a recording for Between the Lines on ANN7 - the programme doesn't appear on the electronic programme guide (EPG), neither is any programming or publicity information or material available or been issued by anybody.

Interestingly, Between the Lines is the same name as the SABC's show from the 1990's which ran on SABC3 and also looked at media coverage and issues.

"News and the news makers, the story behind the headline, dissecting what was said and what was implied. A thorough analysis of the big stories of the week by the sharpest minds in the business of the news," says Asanda Magaqa in an on-air promo.

Between the Lines will interestingly now do battle for viewers and viewership in a Sunday morning South African TV-verse quickly getting crowded.

Between the Lines on Sundays at 09:00 is now competing directly with Media Monitor on SABC News (DStv 404) on Sundays at 09:00 as the same type of show in the exact same timeslot, and then there is eNCA (DStv 403) that has Maggs on Media on Sundays at 10:30.

Not direct competition, but weekday evenings in South Africa now has the additional media-media show The Editors on The Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel (DStv 199) with Katy Katopodis at 21:00 who are supposed to talk about the Oscar Pistorius murder trial but often stray into news and media coverage on a variety of wider topics.