Strike action possibly soon at struggling SABC as staffers at the 'commercially insolvent' public broadcaster demands a 10% pay hike.

Strike action could come soon to the South African Broadcasting Corporation, as staffers become no-shows after the new permanent SABC board refused a 10% salary hike for SABC workers at the cash-strapped South African public broadcaster awaiting another R3 billion government bailout.

The Auditor-General called the SABC “commercially insolvent”, with Africa's largest public broadcaster posted yet another annual loss of R977 million at the end of September. 

Meanwhile the SABC is awaiting yet another government bailout since its last one in 2009 of R1.4 billion.

The SABC that is once again hovering on the brink of financial collapse without a cash-injection, asked the treasury for R3 billion that will likely again be in the form of a government-guaranteed bank loan, in order to remain afloat, although Treasury has not given any indication yet whether it will approve another bailout.

The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media & Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) who demand a 10% salary increase and a guarantee of the payment of a 13th bonus cheque payment in December, say SABC staffers will be ready to down tools as part of a protected strike that could happen from as early as Sunday.

The SABC has been plagued by bad management, bad managerial decisions and upheaval at top executive and board level, with the government's Special Investigative Unit (SIU) currently conducting a wide-ranging probe into corruption, mismanagement and several dodgy contracts at the public broadcaster stretching back several years.

Unions say staffers "have been subjected to threats and fear, unilateral restructurings, change of work practices and shift roster, appointments without advertising positions and a zero-percentage increase".

By Friday morning the SABC has not yet been served with a notice from staff about a strike.

The Mwasa union is against a strike and says "it is amply obvious that the SABC is in a bad state financially, operationally, in terms of consumer and business confidence", saying that "the call for a strike is curious under these circumstances noting in particular the growing incapacity of the national purse to fund expenditure".

"There is no automatic right to a salary increment," says Mwasa. "A demand for a salary increment must not be entertained simply because it is habit to demand and receive."

"A demand must be justified, justifiable, affordable on a proven sustainability basis going forward. SABC employees have repeatedly received above inflation increases primarily because the reckless leadership of recent had used 'organised labour' on a rent-a-crowd-basis and dispensed with crumbs of patronage which were received without question."

Another SABC staff member accuses boss of physical assault, open assault case at police; a 'humanitarian crisis inside SABC,' says Mwasa.

Another SABC staff member is accusing an SABC boss of alleged assault as the hearing into alleged assault by against another top SABC executive, the SABC's head of news Jimi Matthews, is finally set to take place today and tomorrow, 7 and 8 July, with the hearing chaired by the public broadcaster's chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

In the incident report filed by an SABC staffer who is a logistics manager for a province and seen by TV with Thinus, the staffer details how, on 29 June this year, the provincial manager, whose name is known but withheld, came to his office.

This is when the SABC staffer, a senior worker at the public broadcaster, says he was "kicked and pushed into the office" by an SABC boss, "yelling and swearing at me. He grabbed the squeeze bottle that was on my table full of water and sprayed it over me and documents that were on my desk. I screamed 'No [name withheld] don't do that,' trying to stop him".

An HR manager and a SABC radio station manager heard the nose and came to see what was happening and one tried to defuse the situation, as the person, according to the staffer, "kept shouting, poking and saying he was sent from head office to come and fix this provincial office".

The staffer says he was tasked to make sure that the right equipment for broadcasting was delivered for president Jacob Zuma's address and release of the Farlam Report into the Marikana massacre.

"I was so scared and in a great shock; I couldn't believe what I experienced on that afternoon. He even said in front of my colleagues who were trying to calm him down that he will not apologise for what was happening."

"I was so emotional that I even ended up crying in front of three colleagues. I then went to Sunnyside police station and opened a common assault case which I will withdraw because I trust that SABC processes will be able to resolve this matter fairly. I also went to hospital and reported injury on duty. The doctor checked me on the same day and my next appointment will be on 13 July".

SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago was asked for comment from the SABC on the alleged assault case and what the SABC wants to say or explain about the incident but didn't respond to a media enquiry.

Today and tomorrow the long-delayed hearing into another alleged SABC assault case will finally be taking place, 5 months after it allegedly happened.

A female SABC worker laid a charge of assault at the South African Police Service and at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) against the SABC's head of news Jimi Matthews. after an incident which allegedly took place during the SABC's coverage of president Jacob Zuma's State of the Nation Address on 12 February.

The woman, in charge of the SABC's outside broadcasting staff, who laid the charge at Cape Town Central Police Station, alleges that she was physically assaulted as well as verbally and psychologically attacked by Jimi Matthews.

The SABC staffer alleges that she was "was victimised, harassed and assaulted verbally, physically and psychologically by a male executive manager following a technical glitch beyond her control or that of the crew she supervised".

Tuwani Gumani, general secretary of the Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa) tells TV with Thinus that attacks on SABC staff will not go unanswered.

The "public view of the SABC remains that of a clueless, mismanaged national entity lurching from one disaster or crisis to another, the leadership of the SABC, in particular the COO, has persistently strived to create a curious veneer of harmony, an ambiance of goodwill, a picture of a healthy utopian community even under controversy-prone ministerial, board and executive leadership."

"The experiences of ordinary members in the employ of the SABC point to a humanitarian crisis inside the broadcaster. Stress levels must have hit the upper limits for senior managers to resort to physical violence on company premises and on company time," says Tuwani Gumani.

Today's interesting TV stories to read from TV with Thinus - 15 May 2015.

The SABC's SABC Encore (DStv 156) forces old programming onto viewers.
Launching SABC Encore with old programming was not a savvy move, SABC should instead be focusing on producing new content like other channels and broadcasters.

Mwasa accuses SABC of "battle of attrition" against staffer who was allegedly attacked.
Union says the SABC is allegedly unfair in the case in which a staffer has made a case against the SABC's head of news, Jimi Matthews, after she was allegedly assaulted by him during the State of the Nation Address earlier this year. The SABC allegedly insist that its matricless chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng "should preside on the case".


The Simpsons fired Mr Burns
Because actor Harry Shearer refused to accept the same contrained contract to do no other work which all the other voice actors accepted. The Simpsons producer tries to explain and gives his side of the story, saying he hopes Harry Shearer comes back.


The future of The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural.
The CW channel head in America reveals what he thinks of both these longrunning shows.
And Nina Dobrev is essential to The Vampire Diaries, how on earth can she leave?


Melissa Rivers slams Giuliana Rancic, Kelly Osbourne and Kathy Griffin.
Says Kathy Griffin who took over Fashion Police on E! Entertainment (DStv 124) "sh-t all over my mother's legacy". Look at the whole, fascinating 52 minute interview of YouTube filled with several other insights (like how the press and media always go for the free food at functions - so true!)


With CSI ending after 15 years, that TV show's legacy is everywhere.
The forensic drama formulae that CSI invented can now be seen everywhere across TV. Meanwhile the experts on spin-off CSI: Cyber on M-Net (DStv 101) seem clueless and don't know what they're doing.

Watch the trailer for the ooh new and awesome looking science fiction drama, Childhood's End.
Of course based on Arthur C. Clarke's novel. (Sidenote: Please, please, please, please can MultiChoice just add Syfy? That channel is in a dramatic quality, genre content resurgence. Adding Syfy now will be the same as adding MGM which turned into AMC which will suddenly have The Walking Dead spin-off upping its street cred.)

Mwasa takes SABC to court for alleged failure by the public broadcaster to do a salary review of sales representatives in over a decade.

The Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa) has taken the SABC to court to force the South African public broadcaster to implement a court order the SABC has ignored and which would see an increase in the commission paid to SABC sales representatives.

The SABC is supposed to review the public broadcaster's sales commission scheme every two years according to its own policy but has failed to do this salary review for over a decade.

The trade union has now filed court papers with the Labour Court in Johannesburg citing that the SABC's acting CEO Anton Heunis is in contempt of court due to the SABC's failure to act on, and comply with the order handed down in May 2013 by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

REACTION OVER FIRED GENERATION CAST: 'Obscene abuse' of power and a 'devastating impact on SABC viewers' says MWASA.

The Media Workers Association of South Africa (MWASA) calls the wholesale firing of the Generations cast on SABC1 today an "obscene abuse" of corporate power and says that it will have a "devastating adverse impact on viewers" - urging the Generations actors, the SABC and MMSV Productions to set aside the shocking massive firing of the cast and to talk it out around the negotiating table.

MWASA says that the mass dismissal of the actors on the SABC's most watched TV show which it calls an "irrational decision" is creating "collateral damage on both sides" and will be extremely negative for the millions of viewers watching the primetime SABC1 soap in South Africa and in other countries.

MWASA says South Africa's creative workers "generate billions of rand for a super-exploitative industry that spits everybody out as soon as the spotlight dims".

"This history of our exploitative creative sector is littered with casualties and victims of the slave-and-master contract system that creates selfish millionaires on one hand and paupers and beggars on the other".

"It seems the preferred approach of the current leadership of the SABC and MMSV Productions is that getting rid of workers amounts to a sustainable solution to the endemic problems regarding contractual relations between the SABC, production companies and workers," says MWASA.

"It is obscene abuse of corporate power and managerial privilege. Contracts must remain negotiable within reason and in pursuit of the common good".

MWASA says "we fully support the struggle for improved working conditions, for competitive remuneration, for the consideration of fair compensation regarding royalties, rebroadcasts, sales and syndication".

"The actors, the SABC and MMSV Productions should urgently consider setting aside the Generations actors' dismissal and work on returning to the negotiating table. A fascilitated process would yield better results".

BREAKING. 'The SABC has become a tired joke among its own staff and its choice-starved audiences," says Mwasa trade union.

"The SABC has become a tired joke among its own staff, its choice-starved audiences, its industry peers and financial benefactors."

So says the Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa) which is slamming the beleaguered South African public broadcaster, following a scathing independent skills report on the SABC conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Yesterday in a hastily convened press conference following the barrage of press following the skills audit report, the SABC  claimed the report is old, although it never refuted the facts regarding the lack of qualifications at the broadcaster.

"The singular excuse presented by the SABC is the insulting, idiotic claim that the report is 'outdated'. The staff of the SABC should be treated with respect and not with such contempt and disdain," says Tuwani Gumani, the secretary general of Mwasa. "It is abhorrable that the leadership of the SABC would demean the staff in such a manner".

"The report simply confirms what is and has been known as irrefutable fact inside and outside the SABC across the country and abroad," says Mwasa.

"While there are many skilled individuals within the employ of the SABC, they are victimised, persecuted and prosecuted for their qualifications, demonstrable skills and insistence on the maintenance of professional and ethical standards".

"Boasting an extensive hoard of highly remunerated human resources management consultants, the SABC fails dismally to meet basic human resource management standards, to keep records, to screen candidates for recruitment and placement, to manage payroll, to determine training needs and to provide employee wellness programmes in general."

"The acting chief operations officer (COO), along with many others employed at the SABC has no matric and other verifiable post-matric qualifications," says Tuwani Gumani about the famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

"How everyone glosses over the destructive impact and effect of the role played by this incumbent is inexplicable but inexcusable."

Tuwani Gumadi says "the SABC must be placed under administration of one form or another to salvage it from the inexcusable incompetence demonstrated by those who would treat South Africans as retarded, moronic and idiotic".

"Ideally, the SABC must be transformed into a fully fledged public-owned chapter 9 institution to be freed from direct political and other vested interests".

Priority of new SABC interim board is to 'stabilise' the public broadcaster; new chairperson says public concern 'is valid' over board upheaval.

In a "rediffusion" meeting between the SABC's top executives held with SABC staff, workers at the beleaguered public broadcaster were asked that "all staff put all hands on deck, to adhere to issues of corporate governance and that they focus on productivity and efficiencies in the organisation".

The trade union, the Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa) responded in a strongly worded statement, saying that a perpetual dark cloud of depravity, ineptitude, self-interest and corruption looms large over the SABC".

The new chairperson of the SABC's interim board, Zandile Tshabalala, says the interim SABC board's priority is to "stabilise" the SABC.

"I think the concern for the public is valid that the SABC has had two board changes in one term which is an anomaly," says Zandile Tshabalala.

'Perpetual dark cloud of depravity, ineptitude, self-interest and corruption looms large over the SABC," says trade union Mwasa.

"A perpetual dark cloud of depravity, ineptitude, self-interest and corruption looms large over the SABC," says the trade union Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa) in a strongly worded statement, calling for the beleaguered South African public broadcaster to be changed into a "Chapter 9" institution.

Within the South African context - unlike the more familiar American expression of "Chapter 9", it doesn't denote bankrupty, but rather an institution functioning independently from any government interference.

Mwasa says "tortured and abused employees have kept the SABC on air" and that once again "calls are made to long-suffering employees to put all hands on deck and to bouy or sustain another trampoline for the shenanigans at decision-making levels far removed from their daily chores."

Mwasa says the SABC's new interim board, the embattled SABC's second interim board in four years, "will achieve less than nothing" if staff are not incorporated "in all aspects of finding sustainable strategy solutions to the pervasive challenges crippling the SABC."

Mwasa says "there is immense boadcasting experience wealth, talent and skill in and around the SABC which must be recognised and generously tapped into".

Mwasa says the SABC has "hobbled along for over a decade without effective oversight structures" and that the trade union fears that the SABC might end up being placed under administration.

SABC IN CHAOS & CRISIS: Complete lack of transparency as names of new SABC interim board is bulldozed through parliament.

The SABC in chaos & crisis: As the names of a new interim SABC board was blatantly bulldozed through parliament today without any public consultation or transparency to replace the decimated, then dissolved SABC board, parliament did nothing to investigate the underlaying causes of the massive meltdown and ongoing destruction of South Africa's public broadcaster.

Parliament's portfolio committee on communications tasked with oversight of the SABC refused to listen to the public pressure group, Support Public Broadcasting (SOS Coalition) today or give the civil society group representing vast interest groupings within South Africa's broadcasting and public broadcasting sphere a change to talk or do a prepared, insightful presentation.

Instead parliament's portfolio committee on communications dissolved the SABC board which self-destructed and which left the rudderless and embattled SABC without a corporate governance body and bulldozed through the committee and then through the National Asembly the pre-arranged names of the new five person interim SABC board.

Ordinary South Africans who are required to pay a TV license because it's "the right thing to do" are not getting the right thing done by government or parliament with unilateral decisions being made, and no oversight and thorough investigation being made into the massive malaise and crippling problems which is causing the growing collapse of the SABC.

"Many South Africans who wanted to contribute to the formation of a vibrant, world-class public broadcaster are now scarred and embittered people," said Marian Shinn, the Democratic Alliance's communications spokesperson today.

Marian Shinn said many of the SABC board members from the SABC board which was dissolved today, resigned "in disgust" due to political interference in the SABC board's functioning.

"Those that I spoke to yesterday said that until the laws are changed to prevent political interference, nothing would change to save the corporation from the destructive path it is on. The appointment of this interim board must be seen for what it is: a rushed, non-transparent, and inadequate affair," said Marian Shinn.

"There has not been good governance in the corporation. It has been an open play pen for corruption. You never know who to trust anymore. It has become a nightmare to work and to find out which is the best way to get it back on track."

"The SABC is almost broken because the people of calibre and ability who have been through the SABC in the past decade, trying to put it right, who have been severely wounded in the process and are unlikely to come back put it right," said Marian Shinn.

"Cope wishes to register its serious discomfort with the process followed and the undue haste to dissolve the SABC board with less than 24-hours notice," said Congress of the People member of parliament Juli Killian today.

Liezel van der Merwe, Inkatha Freedom Party member of parliament, said her party could not approve the new 5 person interim SABC board because they never even saw CV's of the nominees.

The Creative Workers Union of South Africa (CWUSA) today welcomed the resignation of the SABC board members. "We believe that the former board members have done an honourable thing to step down with dignity and allow a new search for an interim board that will serve in a manner that is in line with corporate governance," the CWUSA says in a press statement.

"We wish all of them the best in their relative roles as they go back into their different areas of expertise and spheres of national development and growth."

The SOS Coalition has called on parliament to urgently investigate the underlying problems afflicting the SABC before appointing an interim SABC board.

The Media Workers' Association of South Africa (Mwasa) says its "utterly disheartened and disappointed following the rushed hatchet job of imposing an interim board at the SABC."

"The SABC must be free from political interference. Mwasa calls on the presidency not to endorse the process followed in imposing the interim board and to indeed insist on an inclusive, consultative engagement above expediency."

The Communication Workers' Union (CWU) says a new SABC board should bring stability at the public broadcaster. "The SABC is a contested arena, and we hope the new board will provide the needed stability," says Thabo Mogalane, general secretary. He says the new board should play an oversight role and not interfere with the running of the SABC.

"We want a board that is transparent, independent and provides oversight." He said the union was confident the interim board would provide the stability needed to improve the morale of workers at the SABC.

"Where there is no stability, workers are affected negatively."

ALSO READ: SABC in chaos & crisis - Who are the 5 of the new interim SABC board who will now lead the beleaguered broadcaster?
ALSO READ: SABC in chaos & crisis - New interim SABC board forced through parliament with zero transparency.
ALSO READ: SABC in chaos & crisis - Dina Pule accused of creating chaos and fuelling the SABC crisis by interfering in the SABC board's functioning.
ALSO READ: SABC in chaos & crisis - Dina Pule, the minister of communications, attacks the SABC board in parliament; says board members who talked out made the SABC lose viewers.
ALSO READ: SABC in chaos & crisis - Two more SABC board members quit, leaving only ONE: Claire O'Neil as the lone remaining SABC board member.

Trade union Mwasa: 'SABC set up for serious financial ruin beyond its current cash-strapped status'; SABC 'plunging deeper into an abyss'.

The trade union Mwasa (Media Workers Association of South Africa) says it fears that the SABC "is set up for serious financial ruin beyond its current cash-strapped status" and that the SABC's executive board have displayed "a serious lack of conscientious leadership and management".

The statement from Mwasa follows the SABC decision to spend an unbudgeted, estimated R5,7million to convert freelance staff to permanent employees at the already massively overstaffed and bloated public broadcaster.

The SABC has failed to reduce the struggling South African broadcaster's headcount in line with the requirements which was set out under the conditions which the SABC was bailed out in 2009 with a government loan guarantee of R1,4 billion.

"The R2 billion wage bill will triple commensurately and the SABC may return to pre-1994 staffing levels in one fell swoop," says Mwasa.

"We are concerned that corporate decision-making has completely failed and personality-driven cults have instead taken root." The trade union says that "the SABC's executive board have displayed a serious lack of conscientious leadership and management".

Mwasa says "there is a growing penchant for arrogant showmanship whilst plunging the corporation deeper into an abyss. This cannot be allowed to continue unchallenged."

Mwasa holds public protest action at the SABC, demands its trade union rights be fully reinstated and "an SABC that works".

The trade union Mwasa (Media Workers Association of South Africa) held a public protest and picketing action in front of the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters today, demanding "an SABC that works" and that the members of the dysfunctional SABC board resign o be replaced.

There's been a recent thawing in relationsships between Mwasa and the SABC's top executive - Mwasa and the SABC has been in a cold wat of sorts for the past two years, which also led to Mwasa being shut out as an acknowledged trade union within the SABC as the relationship deteriorated. Some of Mwasa's rights as a trade union was reinstated last month at the public broadcaster, although issues remain.

Mwasa's public protest in front of the SABC's Radiopark building today follows the public protest march of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Friday who publicly picketed the SABC amidst claims of news bias and political news bias at the SABC and which the IFP claims is favouring the ruling party, the ANC.

The SABC executive, which included the SABC's CEO Lulama Mokhobo and several SABC board members including Cedric Gina and Suzanne Vos, met with the Mwasa protesters.

The SABC told Mwasa that some of the names appearing on Mwasa membership list (the new additional names to make Mwasa reach the threshold of SABC standards to be recognised as a legitimate trade union within the public broadcaster) are also appearing on the name lists of the other trade unions. The SABC said it is busy checking the list.

Mwasa gave the SABC 14 days to respond to its demands. Mwasa says it now qualifies for a seat at the bargaining table again as a trade union and wants its full organisational rights reinstated.

BREAKING. Beleaguered SABC headquarters once again besieged - to be picketed Friday by IFP march; to be picketed Wednesday by Mwasa.

Once again The beleaguered and crisis-riddled South African public broadcaster is bracing itself to be besieged again as the SABC, still again mired in management upheaval, will experience public picketing within days from multiple fronts.

The trade union Mwasa and the IFP party are both set for separate public marches and picketing at the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters this coming Friday and Wednesday.

For the first time in the party's history, the Inkatha Freedom Party will embark on a mass march against the SABC this Friday, 14 September. The march will start at 10:00 from the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newton to the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters where the IFP will hand over a memorandum of demands to the  broadcaster.

The IFP is extremely unhappy over what it calls unfair political news coverage. Meanwhile the SABC's head of news and current affairs, Phil Molefe, is still on "special leave" for five months already since April, with a scheduled disciplinary hearing which is constantly being postponed. Meanwhile the SABC is setting up its 24-hour news channel with funding from MultiChoice without its head of news. This year the SABC has shown major major ANC events as well as lectures on television but are not doing so for other political parties.

"For years the IFP has continuously engaged the SABC over its anti-IFP coverage and the way in which opposition parties are not fairly represented on all of the public broadcaster's radio and television channels. This year, for example, two of the IFP's three major events - its Freedom Day and Women's Day rally - did not receive TV coverage at all," says the IFP in a statement.

"This is coupled with anti-IFP programmes that have been aired, such as The Bang Bang Club. Now the IFP will take to the streets to demand fairness from the public broadcaster. South Africans must demand of their public broadcaster that they be treated with respect and not force-fed and manipulated with political propaganda. This will be the IFP's message when it embarks on a mass march on Friday," says the IFP.

Meanwhile the trade union, Mwasa plans to be picketing outside the SABC on Wednesday 19 September. Mwasa plans to also hand over a memorandum to the SABC, placing several demands for the public broadcaster to address.

"We demand an SABC that works," says Mwasa. "We cannot continue with this regression and crisis management. We believe we are being prevented from performing our role as workers, staff, a corporate citizen and as human beings in serving the country and its people through the medium of the SABC."

BREAKING. The South African TV industry welcomes Lulama Mokhobo as the SABC's new group CEO and first woman in this position.

In separate statements issued today the South African Screen Federation (Sasfed) as well as the SABC trade union, the Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa), welcomed Lulama Mokhobo as the new group CEO of the SABC, and the first woman to permanently fill the position.

''Sasfed would like to welcome Lulama Mokhobo as the new permanent group chief executive of the SABC, replacing Phil Molefe who was the acting group CEO of the SABC and who had already replaced another interim group CEO Robin Nicholson,'' says the massive trade industry body representing the South African TV industry.

''Sasfed is grateful that the public broadcaster finally has a permanent group CEO again, who will serve a five-year term. Sasfed is pleased by the appointment of a woman to the helm of the SABC, and hopes she will offer some leadership and vision to the SABC, as well as better continuity and accountability.''

''Sasfed welcomes Lulama Mokhobo's appointment, wishes her the best in setting the SABC on the path to transparent and independent public broadcasting, and urges her to seek a meeting with the independent industry as soon as possible so together we can normalise the public broadcasting sphere and provide high quality content to the public.''

''Sasfed heralds the fact that for the first time ever, a woman will head the SABC.''

In another statement Mwasa said it ''welcomes the appointment of Thami Ka Plaatjie to the board of the SABC as deputy chairperson as well as the return of the former group executive: for public services, Lulama Mokhobo who now becomes the first woman group CEO of the SABC''.

''The appointments come at the beginning of what Mwasa hopes would be the beginning of genuine stabilization of the public entity after years of crisis-management and unsustainable levels of opportunity costs.''

''It is however critical and crucial that the SABC recovers from its catatonic state of arrested development,'' says Mwasa in the statement, adding that Mwasa ''positively looks forward to better cooperation with all who support the regeneration and recalibration of the SABC.''

The Broadcast, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) said that Lulama Mokhobo was not very successful as the head of public radio. "We will have to wait and see how she does," said Hannes du Buisson, Bemawu president.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said Lulama Mokhobo had the experience to run the SABC and to bring an end to factional tendencies.

The SOS Coalition in a statement said it ''welcomes the appointment of Thami Ka Plaatjie to the board of the SABC and to the position of deputy chairperson. Further, the SOS Coalition welcomes the appointment of a permanent new SABC CEO, Lulama Mokhobo''.

''We note the enormous pressures of this job and the tough decisions that need to be taken to ensure the successful implementation of the SABC's turnaround strategy,'' says the SOS Coalition. ''We will keep a watchful eye on all progress in this regard. SOS and its members note the need for strong leadership in this position.''

BREAKING. Traumatised SABC workers crying foul; airing their unhappiness over the unbearable lightness of being stuck in stench.

You're reading it here first.

Oh SABC. Where would we be without you?

It seems the SABC is being visited by Mister Hankey the Christmas poo. No, the SABC didn't sign the rights to South Park - SABC workers are crying foul and claim that they're subjected to the unbearable stench of - to put it nicely - ''pungent sewer-effluence in the air''.

The Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa), one of the unions representing SABC workers, now claim that traumatised workers in the SABC's rented offices in Nelspruit can't cope with the foul smell of the you-know-what odours they have to endure. For weeks Mwasa has claimed - and continues to - that the SABC's Nelspruit offices is simply not fit for human habitation while extensive construction work is taking place in and around the building.

Last week SABC staff refused to enter the SABC building in Nelspruit with Mwasa calling it ''a deathtrap'' and Mwasa saying it could ''collapse any time''. Mwasa general secretary Tuwani Gumani said the building was ''rotten'' and a ''mining site''.

Last week the SABC issued a press release responding to the claims of the building's unsafety during construction and said ''a structural engineer has confirmed that the building has no structural defects and is therefore considered safe''. That's after the department of labour in Mpumalanga did a routine inspection in June ''and indentified issues inside and outside the building'' which is not getting attention in the form of construction on the premises. The SABC says that according to the department of labour there is now ''nothing structurally wrong with the building. Entrance with the scaffolding did not pose a danger and it's safe.

SABC workers are not happy and are now kicking up a stench about the stench, calling the SABC ''uncaring'' and promising ''strong action'' over ''the experiences of the pungent sewer-effluence hanging in the air inside and outside the building''. ''We just cannot allow anybody to be subjected to this state of affairs whilst we squander money to celebrate the SABC's 75 years,'' says Mwasa.

The SABC has so far not responded about the workers' airing their complaint about the air quality.

BREAKING. SABC wants to cut staff from this month; 500 to 600 has to go before the end of the financial year; hundreds more next year.

You're reading it here first.

The SABC has sent a letter of intent to the South African public broadcaster's three biggest trade unions - Bemawu, CWU and Mwasa - a copy of which TV with Thinus has, informing them officially that the SABC intends to reduce the headcount at the broadcaster by even more than the 700 the SABC board told parliament and with at least 500 that will have to be cut during this financial year.

ALSO READ: South African public broadcaster plans to get rid of 700 workers; or 1 on every 5 at the corporation.

That follows after Justice Ndaba, the SABC's acting head of human capital services told parliament's portfolio committee on communications in April that the SABC is getting ready to get rid of 699 of the public broadcaster's current 3 699 workers within the next two to three years - 1 out of every 5 current SABC workers.

In this new letter by Justine Ndaba addressed to the trade unions, the SABC says it's ''contemplating the need to reduce the number of employees.''

The SABC says that ''between 700 and 800 employees are likely to be affected over a two year period where about 500 to 600 employees will need to be reduced during the 2011/2012 financial year and the balance during the financial year 2012/2013.''

''The reduction process should start during July 2011 and the exercise be completed by 2013,'' says the SABC in the letter.

''The company is well aware of the impact on moral that this notice and these discussions is likely to have, and assures you that the entire matter will be dealt with as sensitively as possible.''

The SABC now plans a meeting which is set for this coming Wednesday, 13 July at Auckland Park to talk to the trade unions.

BREAKING. After failed wage negotiations and unions threatening to strike, SABC says its ''still confident'' an agreement can be reached.

With all three of the SABC's trade unions - Bemawu, CWU and Mwasa - threatening mass action and a strike with wage negotiations between workers and the South African public broadcaster deadlocked, the SABC says its ''still confident'' that ''an amicable agreement'' can be reached.

ALSO READ: Massive strike action looms at SABC as all three trade unions - Bemawu, CWU and Mwasa - threaten industrial action over failed wage negotiations.

The SABC in a late statement issued today, says the broadcaster ''continues to focus on the important task of the turnaround strategy''.

With both the public broadcaster and the unions in a deadlock after negotiations in April and further negotiations in Pretoria over 5 days in May, one further dispute resolution meeting is going to be taking place where the unions and the SABC will have one final chance to come to an agreement. The unions are refusing to back down from their demand of a salary increase of 10,5% and an increase in the housing allowance. The SABC is only offering a 7,07% increase.

If the two sides can't find agreement during the upcoming dispute resolution meeting (a date will have to be set within the next five working days), the unions and the SABC will be going to the CCMA or Labour Court.

''The SABC will initiate discussions with organized labour and try and resolve the impasse,'' says the broadcaster in the short statement.

BREAKING. Massive strike looming at the SABC as all 3 trade unions - Bemawu, CWU and Mwasa threaten over failed wage negotiations.

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Massive industrial action is looming that could severly disrupt the operations of the SABC as all three unions within the South African public broadcaster - Bemawu, CWU and Mwasa - are threatening possible industrial action as a unified labour front after failed wage negotiations.

The SABC and the three unions - Bemawu, CWU and Mwasa together representing thousands of SABC workers - are deadlocked after failed wage negotiations of late April and early May restarted yesterday outside Pretoria but ended again abruptly after one day. The unions are accusing the broadcaster of witholding financial information about the SABC's position where upper management has started the beleaguered corporation's turnaround strategy without consulting these unions.

The unions are now threatening industrial action, saying that the SABC's acting group CEO, Robin Nicholson ''avoided addressing the negotiating forum at all instances and only sent his juniors who had difficulty in speaking to the financials of the corporation.'' Last night - the day wage negotiations resumed in Pretoria, Robin Nicholson attended the lavish gala dinner in Cape Town of the minister of communications, Roy Padayachie, where Robin Nicholson was praised with the turnaround of the SABC.

The SABC is offering workers a 7,07% increase across the board as well as an increase in a housing allowance, with the unions demanding a 10,5% increase.

''The unions believe the SABC had not shown commitment throughout the protracted negotiation process and had negotiated in bad faith,'' says Bemawu, CWU and Mwasa. ''Litigation and a subsequent strike action are real possibilities.''

South African public broadcaster plans to get rid of 700 workers as SABC wants to rid the corporation of 1 in every 5 workers.

The South African public broadcaster is planning to get rid of 699 workers - 1 in 5 - as the SABC plans to shed jobs as part of its turnaround strategy over the next two to three years.

Justice Ndaba, the SABC's acting head of human capital services told parliament's portfolio committee on communications that the SABC is getting ready to get rid of 699 of the public broadcaster's current 3 699 workers within the next two to three years. That means that 1 out of every 5 current SABC workers will no longer be employed by the public broadcaster by 2014 as part of the corporation's turnaround strategy that includes drastically shrinking the workforce.

ALSO READ: SABC sees its planned new 24 hour news channel as a key driver of the broadcaster's turnaround strategy.
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The SABC's turnaround strategy is in full swing, however the trade union MWASA is taking the SABC to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) seeking a reversal of all the decisions thus far carried out by the SABC and for ''the corporation's insistence on unilateral implementation of decisions on the restructuring process''. MWASA claims ''the SABC had misled parliament and the whole world that they had consulted organized labour when they actually had not done so''.

Another trade union, Bemawu tells TV with Thinus ''it's shocking that the SABC is talking about letting workers go while the SABC, on a daily basis advertise positions and appoint new people - especially on senior level - and that without following internal processes.'' Bemawu says the tradeu union is ''incredibly concerned'' about the SABC's turnaround strategy ''which seems like nothing more than to get rid of a previous regime and to bring in associates and friends''.

Bewau claims the SABC is once again busy with wasteful expenditure, saying ''18 iPads have been bought for top management while at least R22 million has been payed to Deloitte Consulting so far, amongst other things for the implementation of phase 2 of the turnaround strategy, while not a minute has been spent consulting with trade unions''. ''We're very scared that if retrenchment packages are given, that it will be the personnel working at the SABC the longest - who have the knowledge and expertise - who will leave first, having a massively debilitating impact on the public broadcaster.''

The Independent Producers' Organisation (IPO) and the South African Screen Federation (SASFED) are saying that they also, haven't been consulted by the SABC on the broadcaster's turnaround strategy. ''At a consultation meeting urged by SASFED on 17 January SABC management said its turnaround strategy, as had previously been presented to parliament, was a work in progress that remained open to accommodating the perspectives of the independent television production industry. The SABC committed itself at this meeting to substantive discussions in advance of further presentation to parliament,'' says the groups in a strongly-worded statement.

''To date this commitment has not been honoured and the independent production sector - a vital stakeholder in public broadcasting at the operational coalface with the SABC and directly subject to its deficiencies, is concerned its points of view may not be represented in the turnaround plans being developed,'' says the groups that collectively represent more than 300 000 workers in South Africa's TV production sector.
''The IPO, SASFED and the TV Industry Emergency Coalition (TVIEC) have for the past year tabled a range of ideas about the turnaround of the SABC,'' they say.