SABC drops Communication Workers Union it says fell below 500 staffers, CWU slams notice as 'a fabrication and a deception'

by Thinus Ferreira

The SABC has dropped its recognition of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), telling staffers that the trade union will no longer be recognised as a bargaining group since its membership has fallen below the threshold of 500 represented staffers at the South African public broadcaster.

The CWU has slammed the move, saying the SABC's notice issued by Rachel Masuku, the SABC's head of human resources, is "a fabrication and a deception".

The move to scrap the CWU's representation leaves Bemawu as the only recognised trade union for workers at the SABC.

In an internal memo, Rachel Masuku, the SABC's head of human resources, on Monday told SABC staffers that the South African public broadcaster has "terminated" the recognition rights of the CWU.

The SABC says the CWU no longer adheres to, and is in "non-compliance with clause 11.1.4 of the Recognition Agreement".

This agreement stipulates that "In the event of the union membership decreasing to under 500 members in the bargaining unit and the union failing to resolve its representativity within three calendar months or such period as shall be agreed to, the union shall lose its recognition status".

In November 2024 the SABC told the CWU that its membership had fallen to below 500 SABC staffers and was given three months from 19 November to bring its union tally to back over 500.

An extension of a further two months was given to the CWU but it failed to close the 500 threshold.

"CWU will no longer enjoy recognition rights within the SABC with effect from today," Rachel Masuku told SABC staffers in the internal memo on 23 June.

The CWU says it "anticipated" the SABC's move that it calls an "atrocity", noting that the CWU "had suffered the most brutal forms of union bashing".

The CWU says "For over three years, the SABC [has been] guilty of deliberately dragging out wage negotiations for months and months on end, the malicious collapse of the policy negotiations, victimisation of union members, non-compliance to occupational health and safety, unilateral restructuring to terms and conditions of employment, threatening shop stewards who fulfill their duties then subsequently suspending them, then dismissing them, negotiating in bad faith, while for almost a decade the SABC has viciously weaponised the employee relations regime".

The CWU says the trade union "never received an official notice of the illegal derecognition but received the notice via workers" and that "What is contained in the notice to employees as crafted by Rachel Masuku is actually a fabrication and a deception".

The CWU notes that it has filed a dispute with the CCMA in relation to its derecognition at the SABC on 24 June.

"We are calling for a full investigation into the union bashing of the CWU at the SABC, including the dismissal and suspension of its shop stewards".

Mmoni Nugbane, SABC spokesperson, didn't respond to a media query TVwithThinus made on Thursday about the SABC's notification of scrapping its recognition of the CWU as a trade union.

CWU general-secretary Aubrey Tshabalala suspended and ordered to disciplinary hearing on 8 charges of allegedly not doing his work and taking unauthorised foreign trips.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has suspended its general-secretary Audrey Tshabalala who has been ordered to appear before a disciplinary hearing on 8 charges after he allegedly went on unauthorised foreign trips and for failure to do his work.

Clyde Marvin, CWU president, told SABC News that "for now we will call for calm to our members and allow the process so that the organisation also deals with its internal issues".

Audrey Tshabalala was apparently suspended 2 weeks ago already but there's been no statement or press release from the CWU about his suspension and disciplinary hearing.

Audrey Tshabalala denies the charges. 

"As matters are discussed workers have the right to ventilate and from time to time the organisation will reflect on decision it has taken through the national executive committee meetings. So we will also allow the NEC to reflect on these issues," Clyde Marvin says.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 29 December 2020.

Here's the news about TV that I read and that you should read too:     

■ ViacomCBS CEO's plan for its global Paramount+ video streaming service: Breaking news, live sports and a mountain of entertainment content.

■ Donald Trump plans to wreck Fox News (StarSat 261) with his own MAGA digital channel.

"He plans to wreck Fox," says insiders, revealing that the reality TV star wants to start a digital media channel that would stream online since starting a traditional pay-TV channel would be expensive and time-consuming.

■ The new third episode of the 2nd season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian just fixed a major plot hole.

- SEE: Sets in Los Angeles almost completed for season 3.

- Second season of The Mandalorian sets a new standard in phallic symbols.

■ How Bridgerton on Netflix wants to revolutionise romance on TV.

■ Fox News (StarSat 261) identity crisis: Indulge Donald Trump election claims or reject it and watch viewers flee.

■ The film crews being directed from a continent away.

■ Will Disney+ ever be as big as Netflix?

■ CNN (DStv 401) ratings surge as boss Jeff Zucker's fate is uncertain.

■ Deadliest Catch fisherman star Nick McGlashan dead at 33. His cause of death is unknown but he has been struggling with drugs and alcohol for years.

■ When every set looks like Contagion: Inside Hollywood's pandemic year.

■ Apple TV+ was making a new TV show about Gawker. Then CEO Tim Cook found out and canned it.

■ The SABC's Monday meeting with the trade unions Bemawu and CWU over retrenchments has been postponed.

■ PODCAST - Access denied: Like in the industries its reporters cover, the lack of black representation in financial media has created blind spots where predominantly white newsrooms often miss stories about systemic racism or fail to reach an audience of more than one demographic.

■ MUST READ: How America's Trump administration suppresses photography of the Covid-19 pandemic.

How America's government reinforced media restrictions at hospitals to curb the media's ability to show disturbing images from inside hospitals and from preventing journalists from getting access.

Independent Producers Organisation on SABC retrenchment plan: 'It's disturbing that the ANC ruling party and unions are up in arms against the SABC board over a few hundred SABC jobs but haven't taken issue with thousands in the production sector who have lost jobs'.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's Independent Producers Organisation (IPO) says that it rejects calls from trade unions for the dissolution of the SABC board and says that it finds it disturbing that the ANC ruling party and trade unions are now up in arms over job-losses at the public broadcaster but did nothing over the thousands of workers who had lost their jobs in the country's struggling TV and film industry already.

Tensions and public protest action have ramped up last week after the financially struggling South African public broadcaster issued retrenchment letters with SABC top management that wants to get rid of 400 workers at the bloated broadcaster.

The SABC board will again meet with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) this week, while the Bemawu trade union is bringing an interdict application at the Labour Court to halt the retrenchment process.

Politicians and political parties like the ANC and EFF have joined the public protest action of SABC workers, with the ANC and EFF also calling for an end to the SABC's retrenchment process.

Meanwhile, South Africa's battered film and TV industry had already shed thousands of jobs within the industry with many production companies that were forced to shutter as a confluence of the SABC drastically decreasing its local content spend, late and non-payment from the SABC for content that have been delivered because of cash-flow problems, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The SABC board have said in 2019 and again this year that if the ANC-led government doesn't want job cuts it will need to commit to give the SABC an additional R1 billion per year. The SABC that just made a net loss of R511 is on track to make another loss of at least R1.2 billion next year.

The SABC roughly requires R270 million per month just to pay salaries with the wage bill that is by far the biggest single expense at the crumbling broadcaster. 

In the 2019/2020 financial year the SABC paid out an average salary of R791 000 per worker - roughly R66 000 per worker per month. This "average" is however skewed because of the multi-million rand remuneration packages of the SABC's top execs, directors and senior management who collective earned over R41 million in the financial year.

"While no-one supports retrenchments, particularly in these punishing economic times, the harsh reality is that without undergoing this process and trimming its bloated wage bill, the SABC will face financial ruin, putting thousands more jobs at risk in the organisation and its suppliers," says Quinton Fredericks, co-chairman of the Independent Producers Organisation, the industry umbrella organisation that represents South Africa's independent producers.

"The SABC board is the first to make any progress in managing the organisation’s cost to income ratio; reducing wasteful and fruitless expenditure, selling off non-essential assets and rooting out corruption," says the IPO.

"Importantly, it is also the first to act on the very direct instruction from Treasury when it received the bailout to reduce its unacceptably large headcount."

"The SABC spends 41 cents of every rand on salaries, whereas its spend on content – which is its core business – is only 22 cents, with local content only receiving 15 cents of that. As the public broadcaster, it is mandated to prioritise local content. By comparison, M-Net spends 15% on staff and 43% on local content. Further, as a percentage of revenue, eMedia  (e.tv) and the BBC spend 11% and 29% respectively on salaries."

"The SABC's wage bill has grown beyond all reason as a result of irregular and unjustified appointments, unwarranted bonuses and consistently above-inflation increases," says Quinton Fredericks.

"Conversely, it has slashed its spend on local content effectively cutting its rates to the production sector and the thousands of freelancers that work in it by an effective and staggering 50% over the last 12 years.

"It is disturbing that South Africa's parliament, the ANC ruling party and unions are up in arms against the SABC board over a few hundred SABC jobs, yet none of them have taken issue at all with the thousands of workers in the production sector who have lost their jobs, and the many small business production companies which have been forced to close down due to the SABC having reduced its spend on local content and, in the not so distant past, simply not paid producers for work that had been delivered to the broadcaster."

"The current SABC board's turnaround strategy is the first glimmer of hope for a sustainable future for the SABC. The measures in that strategy, including the retrenchments, are inevitable if the organisation is to survive, no matter who sits on its board," says Quinton Fredericks.

"Dissolving the SABC board, as the CWU demands, will cost the organisation and the country dearly."

"Replacing this SABC board with amenable disciples will not only lead to its rapid ruin, it also places the editorial independence of the public broadcaster and, in turn, our democracy under severe threat as we saw under the Hlaudi Motsoeneng era".

"An independent, objective broadcaster is a key pillar of a functioning democracy. We cannot allow this to be undermined by unrealistic populist rhetoric ostensibly aimed at saving a few hundred jobs at the cost of thousands of jobs across the production sector, and of a public broadcaster that is able to deliver effectively on the core requirements of its public service mandate," says Quinton Fredericks.

"The Independent Producers Organsiation recognises that the workers who may be retrenched at the SABC have extensive skills sets in the broadcasting, commissioning and production sector."

"These skills should be harnessed in building the capacity of small and medium black-owned production houses through agencies such as the MICTSeta and the National Skills Fund to reposition and build the capacity of the independent production sector in South Africa. This with a specific focus on developing our local indigenous film and television sector."

SABC to start 'very challenging' retrenchment of 400 staffers as South Africa's bloated public broadcaster says it also plans to freeze salary increases, cut leave and sick leave to ensure its survival.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's struggling public broadcaster on Wednesday announced that it is starting its massive and long-gestating retrenchment process and will now cut its bloated personnel numbers by 400 people in addition to cutting back staff leave and sick leave, and possibly freezing all salary increases for a minimum of 3 years.

Despite criticism and severe pushback by trade unions like Bemawu and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) against SABC executives' plan to cut the overstaffed public broadcaster's out-of-control wage bill, the financially-distressed broadcaster says it is now ready to implement the country's so-called "Section 189" of the labour relations act.

The SABC plans to give all workers that it decides to retrench a severance package of 1 week's pay for each completed year of service.

The SABC plans to get rid of 400 workers - less than the 600 announced earlier - in an attempt to stabilise its wage bill that remains its single biggest and untenable expense at the broadcaster that is once again on track to record a loss-making financial year thanks to a battering because of the Covid-19 pandemic despite yet another government bail-out this year of billions of rand.

The SABC says that it simply must reduce its workforce and that "sadly, our organisation requires a difficult but necessary restructuring process that will result in the reduction of staff" in order to ensure its survival.

The broadcaster says that it had conducted 16 "consultative sessions over 4 months with multiple stakeholders" - mainly the Bemawu and CWU trade unions and "considered all options to minimise the total number of affected employees".

"We have been able to reduce the total number of impacted people to approximately 400, which is significantly less than the oroginal projected figure of 600. In addition there are approximately 170 vacant positions that will be available for employees to apply for which provides the potential of further reducing the number of affected employees to 230."

The SABC plans to implement and says it will consider other dramatic cost-cutting alternatives like freezing salary increases for a minimum of 3 years, reducing employee leave days from 35 to 28 days, ending the encashment of leave days, and reducing sick leave from 30 days per year to 36 days over 3 years.

"While this decision was not an easy one, it is regrettably a necessary one for the long-term sustainability of the SABC," says Madoda Mxakwe, SABC CEO.

"An insolvent SABC serves no-one - not our employees or our citizens who rely on the SABC for transparent, fair and ethical public broadcasting services."

"This retrenchment is understandably very challenging for all our stakeholders. However, it is one part of our approved turnaround plan that will help to reposition the SABC to achieve financial sustainability."

Madoda Mxakwe says that "Addressing the SABC's huge cost base, together with recently announced new revenue deals, will ensure that the public broadcaster is able to properly execute its mandate to serve the people of South Africa for decades to come".

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 5 November 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ SABC3's Expresso TV presenter cheater Katlego Maboe: Society's hypocrisy in protecting men and their reputations. 

Their public image can be stained by real evidence, and they'll be supported.

- The alleged "other woman Nikkita Murray releases a statement - says she was tested and doesn't have any sexually transmitted disease (STD)

■ Apple TV+ one year later: Still on trial.

Apple will have to work harder and do a lot more content-wise to compete with Netflix and Disney+.

■ Amazon Prime Video has no big plans for British content from the United Kingdom.

■ SABC1's Uzalo produced by Stained Glass TV announces that it has finished filming on season 6 and will be taking a production break between seasons.

■ Brazil's Globo announces a massive deal to add Disney+ .

Meanwhile there is no communication around any plan for Disney+ in South Africa through MultiChoice or any other means for South Africans to watch any Disney+ content in a legal way.

■ Amazon Prime Video Channels launches in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.

As South Africa just falls further and further behind.

■ SABC unions Bemawu and the CWU claim they are "saving jobs" although the overstaffed and bloated South African public broadcaster continues to sink away in financial problems while the staff bill drains it as the biggest single expense.

■ CNN's (DStv 401) John King was the only one having "fun" on America's 2020 presidential election day.

Viewers react to the CNN correspondent's "This is fun" catchphrase. 

- TV Critic's Notebook: Blue wave? Red wave? America's 2020 election night TV coverage was more like a whirlpool.

- So bad, it's good: The embarrassing difference between TV election coverage in America and Australia.

- Pundits, proxies and pills: America's election TV overload.

- Fox News (StarSat 261) helped fuel Donald Trump's rise. Now it's reporting on a possible fall.

■ "Game of Thrones with parkour": How will Netflix adapt the Assassin's Creed video game as a TV drama series?

■ At 94, BBC actor Stanley Baxter says he's gay.

Says he brought men home with his wife's blessing.

■ Oh Captain my Captain: Below Deck season 8 kicked off with a historic twist: Captain Lee in hospital.

■ The loneliness of wedding reality TV shows.

■ Showmax and M-Net doing more Trash-TV.

■ Cocomelon: The unsettling kids show breaking Netflix records.

■ Michael J. Fox reveals his Parkinson's now makes it difficult for him to do the memorisation needed for acting.

"My short-term memory is shot."

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 26 October 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ SABC3's Expresso presenter Katlego Maboe and that sexually transmitted disease (STD): No place to hide for TV personality.
Allegedly also cheated on Monique Muller while she was pregnant with their son and multiple other times claims her brother Seth Muller.

■ Monique Muller does tell-all sit-down interview over Katlego Maboe and alleged physical abuse:

Alleges that she got a restraining order the first time he hit her: "When the first physical attack happened, I got a protection order against him. He then admitted to sleeping with this woman".

- People called to couple's house late at night after alleged abuse.

- Monique Muller says there was a lot of intimidation against her brother Seth; other woman and her husband lock their social media accounts. (Afrikaans) (subscription required)

- Katlego Maboe "a wrecking ball of a human being".

- e.tv's Durban Gen drama series trolls with a "gown confession".

- Lessons from the Katlego Maboe debacle: Your private life on social media impacts your real professional life.

- The Katlego Maboe blame game saga:

Why are some people making the Katlego Maboe cheating and alleged abuse scandal about the issue that the shocking video should have been kept private, instead of the serious contents of the video?

■ In America, media executives are finally accepting the decline of traditional pay-TV; trying to figure out a new path forward.

- 25 million pay-TV subscribers to cancel over next 5 years; 

- Pay-TV operators no longer care whether customers subscribe or not but just keep increasing prices;

- billions in losses in revenue for Disney, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, ViacomCBS, Fox, Discovery Inc., AMC Networks;

- golden goose of bundling TV channels dying;

- Video streaming not the saviour and not superior;

- pay-TV channels like ESPN likely to cut back on programming, that will likely lead to less viewers;

- the total TV channels bundle is going to shrink

■ You think you want it, but why you don't want that happy ending.

■ Niecy Nash doesn't care about losing fans because of her wedding.

■ "Daylight robbery": SABC wants payment for watching Netflix South Africa. (subscription required)

Absurd tax is similar to King William III of England who introduced a daylight tax in 1696, causing people to brick up their windows to block the sunlight.

■ SABC's last resort to try and recover lost SABC TV Licence fees.

- Attorney: Neither MultiChoice nor Netflix SA is obliged to accept the responsibility of collecting SABC TV Licence fees.

■ SABC wanting Netflix SA, MultiChoice and others to collect SABC TV Licence fees would create a highly uncompetitive and uneven playing field in the media space:

The SABC needs to choose whether it is a public broadcaster or a commercial competitor, it cannot be both.

■ Tuning out the SABC:

Advertisers and the public have been given every reason to tune out of the SABC. The SABC doesn't even know who has a TV set.

■ SABC execs confirm it has received the letter of demand from the Bemawu trade union demanding that no members of Bemawu will be fired in South African public broadcaster's retrenchment process.

- Bemawu threatens to go to Labour Court if SABC refuses to continue retrenchment talks.

- The CWU trade union that supported Hlaudi Motsoeneng wants to take the battle to the streets and strike.

■ Netflix subscription plummeted and cancellations increased 800% after the release of controversial film Cuties.

Netflix's growth may already have peaked:

Growing evidence that the video streamer is close to saturating its biggest markets.

■ Black staffers demand that Vogue editor Anna Wintour resign.

"I have made mistakes along the way."

■ New York Times TV critic James Poniewozik on the Donald Trump "season finale" and the media burnout from the White House reality show.

■ TV reporter robbed of his cellphone while preparing for a live broadcast.

Diego Demarco of the TV news channel En Vivo El Nueve mugged in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

■ WATCH: The holodeck The Volume: The technology that's replacing the green screen.

■ Is the global video streaming service market oversaturated? In a crowded space there's going to be casualties.

■ Fox News (StarSat 261) president Jay Wallance and several on-air presenters including Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Dana Perino and Juan Williams told to quarantine after they were exposed to someone with Covid-19.

■ CNN (DStv 401) could be forced to face a new era without boss Jeff Zucker.

■ MultiChoice, Somizi Mhlongo and producer Legend Manqele all get lawyer's letters.

Drama continues over disastrous Dinner at Somizi on M-Net's 1Magic (DStv 103) that is allegedly content theft of Hastings Moeng's original idea.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 22 October 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ The Communication Workers Union (CWU) threatens a complete SABC blackout at the South African public broadcaster as retrenchment fight turns ugly.

- Unions CWU and Bemawu as well as the SABC Editorial Forum cry foul over SABC dismissal cost and retrenchments.

■ How out of tune is the SABC for wanting viewers to pay the public broadcaster for watching Netflix South Africa? (subscription required).

- Kfm listeners slam SABC's plan to extend SABC TV Licence fee to DStv and Netflix.

- South Africans up in arms after SABC now wants people to pay SABC TV Licence fees for watching DStv and Netflix.

- A SABC TV Licence for your smartphone in South Africa might not be a good ides (subscription required).

- Viewers give a thumbs-down to SABC's latest SABC TV Licence fee collection plan (subscription required).

- SABC's latest TV Licence fee ploy involving Netflix is an absolute joke.

■ "Pay Netflix, not the SABC" online petition started.

■ The SABC wants us to pay more by reminding us of why we shouldn't. (subscription required)

"People Don’t Want To Watch Kak And Thanks To The Internet They Don’t Have To"

■ TV at a tipping point.

How is the traditional pay-TV industry handling this "interim" period where subscription television is far from dead but where subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) video streaming services are rapidly growing their audiences?

■ Netflix versus Amazon Prime Video: The race to 200 million subscribers.

■ SABC in the dudu.

There is a reason the South African public has turned to video streaming services - the SABC isn't just struggling financially, it has a content deficit too.

■ Netflix's cancellations of multiple Netflix Original series show that even video streamers are governed by the very familiar rules of TV production.

■ Reality TV in South Africa: The tribe has spoken.

■ Why strong black stories are rarely seen on television.

■ How did Netflix's expensive $6 million per episode Away science fiction series go from space to flop and cancelled in 6 weeks?

■ Video-on-demand forecast for Africa for 2020 - 2025:

Africa will have 12.96 million SVOD subscriptions by 2025, with South Africa that will supply 3 million and Nigeria that will add 2.1 million. Netflix will remain the biggest, with Disney+ that is expected to start in 2022 in Africa and that will have 2.71 million paying subscribers by 2025.

"Local player Showmax will add more than a million paying subscribers, partly due to the launch of its Pro platform and its lower prices for mobile subscribers."

■ Showmax in Kenya renews drama series Monica for a third season.

■ The Walt Disney Company lost producer and showrunner Shonda Rhimes to rival Netflix over a Disneyland pass.

■ The thing about Netflix that keeps frustrating so many of its subscribers.

■ In America the TV ratings for a lot of sports are down.

■ Did American television ruin US presidential elections?

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read - 17 July 2020.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:


■ Trade Unions Bemawu and CWU ready to start public protest action at the SABC over planned retrenchments.
Claims that skills audit was flawed and says the South African public broadcaster failed to consider alternatives to firing staffers.
- Unions threaten to fight until the very end.

■ The Ghana government says it didn't order the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to shut down channels.
What happened recently is that MultiChoice decided to remove some of the GBC's TV channels from DStv that it didn't want to pay for anymore.

■ Netflix adds 10 million subscribers ...
but warns Covid-19 production shutdowns will begin to hit the video streaming service in 2021.
Ted Sarandos named co-CEO with Reed Hastings.  Forecast for 2020 Q3 third quarter disappoints.
Growth may slow.

■ The SABC's TV offering isn't worth tuning in for.
People who have to watch SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 must be tearing their hair out.

■ 5 ways that MultiChoice's Showmax can improve its experience.

■ How the SABC's outside broadcasting (OB) vans prepared for Covid-19.
"We were caught off-guard. Actually, we were never ready for such a drastic change," says Kagisho Maesela, SABC Television OB's principal technician.

■ "That 'be kind' bullsh*t only happens when the cameras are on. It's all for show."
10 former staff members and 1 current one speak out about how toxic it really is behind-the-scenes at Ellen DeGeneres' Ellen talk show.

■ Eye roll: Netflix is offering an "immortal" 83-year long subscription for the winner of a game.

■ Why time-loop movies resonate in 2020.

SABC trade unions Bemawu and CWU demand answers and an urgent meeting with SABC board before the end of this week over whether staff will get paid at the end of June.

The two big trade unions representing thousands of SABC staffers are demanding answers and an urgent meeting with the SABC board before the end of this week after shocking revelations by the SABC board chairperson on Sunday and the chief financial officer on Monday that the broke SABC can't guarantee the payment of staff salaries in two weeks time at the end of June.

On Sunday, Bongumusa Makhathini, SABC chairperson, warned that the SABC is finally on the verge of collapse with a blackout that could happen any moment.

"I’m not sure how we are going to pay for salaries come end of June," Bongumusa Makhathini said in a report in The Sunday Times.

The SABC that is perilously close to no longer broadcasting hasn't paid for municipal services like electricity at the end of May, choosing to rather pay SABC staff salaries. The SABC now owes the City of Johannesburg more than R13.5 million.

The SABC that is drowning in debt owes the parastatal signal distributor Sentech R317 million and MultiChoice's sports content division SuperSport over R208 million. Beyond that the SABC also owes millions to other content providers like independent South African production companies.

Nothing has so far come of the SABC's plea for a massive R6.8 billion in another government bailout.

On Monday, Yolande van Biljon, the SABC's CFO, warned in an interview with SABC News (DStv 404) that the beleaguered South African public broadcaster's "Day Zero can happen tomorrow" and refused to confirm that SABC staffers will be paid at the end of June.

Yolande van Biljon said that the SABC owes R1.8 billion to hundreds of companies.

On Tuesday Bemawu led by Hannes du Buisson and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) led by Aubrey Tshabalala, in a joint letter demanded an urgent meeting with the SABC board to ensure that SABC staffers will be paid at the end of this month.

Both Bemawu and the CWU demand to know what is happening with the long-delayed government bailout that Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, the current minister of communications, promised.

The SABC urgently needs a cash bailout of R3.2 billion to keep public broadcasting services going in South Africa, while Tito Mboweni, South Africa's minister of finance after his budget speech in February revealed that the SABC now needs a massive R6.8 billion in a government bailout.

In their letter they say that organised labour at the SABC are deeply concerned and unhappy about the way in which staffers are being treated by the SABC board.

Bemawu and the Communication Workers Union say they had to hear in the media that the SABC has reached "Day Zero" - when it can no longer pay anything or staff salaries and will therefore see its broadcasting services seize up - and that workers likely won't be paid by the end of June.

'We will shut down the SABC,' warn staffers as protesting SABC workers threaten new strike action at the public broadcaster over brutal retrenchment plan.

In a possible repeat of last November 2017 when strike action damaged the South African public broadcaster in a wage strike, staffers at the struggling SABC are again threatening the broadcaster with a shutdown strike.

It comes as SABC top brass are planning to implement a massive and brutal retrenchment plan that could see up to one in three workers getting fired by February 2019 (981 of 3 376), along with half of all freelancers (1 200 of 2 400).

Angry, fearful and resentful SABC staffers inside the corridors of the commercially insolvent public broadcaster are openly saying "the SABC is a fiasco right now".

The bloated SABC currently has 443 middle managers who on average earn R1.17 million each and collectively make up R518 million of the wage bill.

In some instances the SABC has one manager for one person in a 1:1 ratio and in others one manager for 3 people. Meanwhile the SABC is bogged down by six different management layers.

SABC staffers picketed during their lunch hour on Friday at the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters in Johannesburg, as well as at the SABC's regional offices in Pretoria and in Bloemfontein.

It happened despite the SABC's boss of human resources, Jonathan Thekiso, who threatened them on Wednesday in an internal memo that the SABC will be taking "disciplinary action" against workers who take part in it.

It's not yet clear against how many workers Jonathan Thekiso's HR division will be taking disciplinary action following the public protest.

Later on Friday, Jonathan Thekiso, in an interview on SABC News (DStv 404) said it "would have been disastrous for all employees to have joined the picket between 12:00 and 13:00" and were away from their desks at the same time.

Jonathan Thekiso said the SABC is in a "dire financial situation" and that SABC staffers are "very, very distressed, people are extremely demotivated".

SABC workers handed over a memorandum on Friday afternoon to SABC management.

Trade unions at the SABC are unanimously demanding that the SABC management reverse its retrenchment notification.

Unions are also demanding a response and giving the SABC a 7-day deadline to respond by Friday, 16 November after which they say they will give the broadcaster a 48-hour strike notice and shut down the SABC.

"We will give the SABC a 48-hour strike notice and shut down the broadcaster," said Aubrey Tshabalala, secretary-general of the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) on Friday as a memorandum with demands were handed to management.

Other demands include switching all freelancers - 2 400 currently - to permanent SABC workers, a switch from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting (DTT), an improved funding model for the SABC, and the elimination of consultation firms.

Hannes du Buisson, president of the The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media and Allied Workers' Union (Bemawu) said "we ask that this process be stopped, that there be a task team appointed to investigate the SABC's revenue streams".

"We also ask that the government who is responsible for the mess that the SABC finds itself in, that they take responsibility and accountability and start funding the SABC in full as a public broadcaster".

Bemawu also demanded that the SABC withdraw its threat of taking disciplinary action against workers who decide to picket during their lunch hour.

The SABC in a terse statement late on Friday said "The SABC has noted the peaceful picketing and protests which took place at the various SABC offices around the country by Bemawu and the CWU".

"Memoranda were delivered by the respective unions and the SABC will review the memoranda and respond to organised labour."

SABC staffers to wear black on Wednesday in 'mourning' over massive retrenchment plan as public protest action starts; daily picketing planned to kick off from Friday with possible strike action looming.

Many angry, shocked and scared SABC staffers are planning on wearing black today, as part of the start of visible protest action on Wednesday against massive planned retrenchments at the South African public broadcaster, with picketing planned to kick off on Friday that could lead to a new strike and stay-aways as up to a third of SABC workers face the axe.

While wasteful and irregular spending of millions at the technically insolvent SABC continues, the SABC's small top executive brass and SABC board raking in millions per year in salaries plan to cull up to 981 of the 3 376 full-time workers - a third of the SABC workforce - with half or 1 200 of the 2 400 freelancers employed by the SABC who will get fired and be gone by February 2019.

It's part of the latest turn-around strategy of the SABC's top management, led by CEO Madoda Mxakwe, to ruthlessly cut costs at the beleaguered and bloated public broadcaster once again hovering on the brink of financial collapse after years of mismanagement and looting, corruption and wasteful spending - including a litany of irregular appointments, irregular salary increases for some execs and staffers, and massive bonus pay-outs.

The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media & Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) and the Communication Workers' Union (CWU), the two biggest trade unions inside the SABC, plan to kick off protest action on Wednesday with SABC staffers who have been asked to wear black clothes today.

SABC workers wearing black will this time be symbolic of staffers "mourning" the direction the South African public broadcaster is taking and the looming mass retrenchments.

The last time SABC staffers including SABC News on-air talent wore black in silent protest was on Friday 22 July 2016, then in open revolt against the now-fired former chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng, his draconian news censorship plan and newsroom intimidation, as well as the firing of the so-called "SABC 8" journalists that the Labour Court later ordered to be rehired.

On Friday during lunch time SABC staffers will publicly protest and picket outside the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters in Johannesburg as well as at the SABC's regional offices countrywide, and plan to hand over a memorandum to SABC management, as well as to Nomvula Mokonyane, South Africa's current minister of communications.

The public picketing is expected to continue next week, daily until there's a change in plans, and could be followed by a new strike aimed at further destabilising the SABC as a defense against the retrenchment plan.

SABC strike action by the unions last hit the public broadcaster exactly a year ago in November 2017 when workers as part of a massive stay-away demanded salary increases and with more on-air mistakes than usual that quickly evident on the SABC's TV channels and radio stations and its SABC News (DStv 404) channel.


Here is how the SABC day-in-black has appeared to viewers so far on SABC News (DStv 404) on Wednesday morning:
(this will continuously be updated as Wednesday unfolds)

Of course there are always exceptions.

Someone forgot to tell Dicksy doing the Xhosa weather on SABC1 on Wednesday evening that red ain't the colour code for the day at the SABC.

Similarly, Sherwin Bryce-Pease, the SABC's correspondent in New York at the United Nations who reported on Wednesday about the American midterm elections, didn't seem to have gotten the memo either.

Dumped Afro Worldview channel's staffers won't all get employed by Newzroom Afrika when the new TV news channel launches in early 2019 on MultiChoice's DStv.

The staffers from Mzwanele Manyi's controversial and now shuttered Afro Worldview TV channel on DStv won't all be employed by Newzroom Afrika when the new TV news channel makes its debut in early 2019 on MultiChoice DStv satellite pay-TV service.

Newzroom Afrika will give "special consideration" to former Afro Worldview staffers, but this doesn't mean that they will be hired. Also not all Afro Worldview staff will apply. 

MultiChoice dumped Afro Worldview last week as it said it would at the beginning of 2018, leaving 300 people jobless who were employed at the former Gupta-owned ANN7 that shut down after 5 years mired in allegations of corruption and of being a propaganda channel.

The owners of Newzroom Afrika, Thokozani Nkosi and Thabile Ngwato on Tuesday said they would give "special consideration" to people who have worked at Afro Worldview and who apply for positions - not advertised yet - at Newzroom Afrika.

That however doesn't they will get jobs.

In an email to Afro Worldview staffers, Mzwanele Manyi told them that details about their salaries will be communicated soon. Mzwanele Manyi said there's no further future for Afro Worldview and that operations have to shut down.

Mzwanele Manyi told staffers not to hope that they'll get employed by Newzroom Afrika and to search for other employment opportunities without waiting. Contracts of Afro Worldview staffers are not being formally terminated.

Meanwhile the Communication Workers Union (CWU) wants to meet with Mzwanele Manyi to negotiate severance packages for staffers.

The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) said it welcomes the commitment by Newzroom Afrika to give "special consideration" to Afr Worldview staffers for possible jobs.

"Sanef notes the fact that the channel is 100% black owned and 50% women owned. We also note MultiChoice and Newzroom Afrika's stated commitment to journalism ethics and independence and the decision to establish an oversight body," said Sanef in a statement.

"We will be carefully watching this space to see if the new channel's commitments are upheld. We also keenly await their announcements in early 2019 about their programming offerings and line-up."