SABC now trying to rent lifts, needs R3 billion for rundown studios as 'critical infrastructure is at risk of collapse'

Thinus Ferreira

The SABC which can no longer maintain or repair its decades-old lifts at its Auckland Park headquarters, is now trying to rent lifts.

It's also busy with a physical workplace move "consolidation" plan to shift as many workers as possible from its radio building into its TV complex.

The struggling South African public broadcaster says it requires R1.4 billion to produce much-needed content over the next 3 years, with another R3.15 billion urgently needed to repair and replace its rundown, broken and outdated infrastructure.

The SABC is now trying to rent lifts since parts to service and replace its old elevators are apparently no longer being made and unavailable.

On a good month the SABC gets R350 million in income, of which R200 million goes towards the wage bill and paying salaries.

That leaves R150 million to pay other bills, accumulated debt, electricity, the parastatal signal distributor Sentech, and other service providers like production companies who produce content for the broadcaster.

Almost no money is left for basic maintenance of the SABC's infrastructure, repair and upgrades.

Nomsa Chabeli, SABC CEO, in a presentation to parliament's portfolio committee on communications, said "the lifts at SABC are more than 50 years old".

"Schindler has come back to us to say they no longer have the spare parts to service the lifts. It's quite a risk for the SABC."

"We're looking for a turnkey solution for that. But the market might not yield what we want because we're looking for a long-term rental, because we don't have the capital to front the investment of those lifts."

According to Nomsa Chabeli, the SABC's "critical infrastructure is at a risk of collapse".

"The majority of our infrastructure is more than 30 years old. We've got failing buildings, our studios are very much outdated and we're dealing with analogue-era equipment. Our current systems cannot support the latest 4K-broadcasts."

Nomsa Chabeli says the SABC started a "consolidation plan" for its Auckland Park buildings, which comprise its rundown radio building and its TV building.

According to this new "workspace strategy", Nomsa Chabeli says "we're consolidating the Auckland Park campus". 

In this plan, staff are being moved to the TV centre with the SABC which plans to maintain only its radio studios in its Radiopark building.

Nomsa Chabeli mentioned that when she sits at interactions next to executives from broadcasters like the BBC, "if you look at the language they are talking, and the language they we as the SABC are using, we are 15 years behind."

"The danger we have is that the likes of the BBC, because of their ambitions globally - at some point South Africans will have a bigger dependency on foreign broadcasters informing and educating our own population because we're not able to do it because we are at a risk of collapse."

To upgrade, repair and replace its ageing and dilapidated infrastructure, the SABC says its urgently needs to spend R3.15 billion. The public broadcaster wants to spend R900 million to upgrade its Auckland Park headquarters and provincial buildings.

Another R750 million is required for studio equipment and technology like replacing cameras, modernising studio facilities, repairing and upgrading regional production facilities, control rooms and editing suites.

Then the SABC needs to spend R500 million on the replacement of its electronic news gathering (ENG/DNG) and field production units to replace dated equipment. 

Another R200 million is required to automate news curation, its ad planning system, and subtitle services. 

R400 million is needed to replace the SABC's ERP system, and another R400 million must be spent on its digital and automation stack.

The SABC was asked in a media query what the public broadcaster will do if it doesn't get the R1.4 billion to create public service content and where it envisions getting the R3.15 billion to spend on critical infrastructure upgrades, the move of staff from the radio building, and how far the process of lift replacement is.

Mmoni Ngubane, SABC spokesperson, didn't respond to the media query.

South Africa's High Court sets aside R7 million lifts contract with Mott MacDonald at South Africa's public broadcaster's Auckland Park headquarters that is ruled invalid and unlawful.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's High Court has ruled that a R7 million contract between South Africa's struggling and financially cash-strapped public broadcaster and Mott MacDonald Africa (Pty) Ltd for the replacement and repair of lifts and escalators at its Auckland Park headquarters invalid and unlawful.

The Gauteng local division of the High Court, in a case brought by South Africa's Special Investigating Unit (SIU), declared that the consulting contract that the SABC gave to Mott MacDonald Africa was unlawful and invalid.

The lifts and escalator replacement and repair contract was awarded during the era of the famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng as SABC chief operating officer (COO) that had been described as a "reign of terror".

The court ruling by Judge Raylene Keightley declared the decision of the SABC to award the contract on 6 July 2015 unlawful and invalid, and accordingly reviewed and set aside. 

The court also ordered Mott Macdonald Africa to pay back the profits it made in the contract to the SABC.

Mott Macdonald Africa was also ordered to provide a detailed breakdown of its reasonable expenses, verified by a duly qualified expert, within 30 days. The SABC was ordered to appoint an expert to verify the reasonableness of such expenses within 30 days thereafter.

"The systemic undermining of the procurement processes at the SABC was but one part of a much broader pattern of governance failings by the SABC under the executive leadership of, among others, Hlaudi Motsoeneng and SABC CEO James Aguma," Judge Raylene Keightley said.

In a statement on Sunday by SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago who used to the SABC's spokesperson, the SIU said that together with the SABC, the SIU took the case to the High Court for review on the basis that the SABC awarded the R7 033 464 contract to Mott Macdonald Africa without following its own prescribed procurement policy processes.

"The matter was centred around the fact that the SABC did not award the contract on an open-bidding basis but instead it treated Mott MacDonald Africa as a sole provider of services contrary to the regulatory rules of the procurement scheme," the SIU says.

Andy Mothibi, SIU head advocate, says "This is a continuation of the implementation of the SIU investigations outcomes and consequence management to recover monies lost by the SABC. There are other cases enrolled in the High Court and the Special Tribunal awaiting adjudication and will result in further recoveries for the SABC".  

ALSO READ: 'On any given day there might be 3 out of 39 lifts working in our buildings in Auckland Park,' the SABC tells parliament.

ALSO READ: Financially struggling SABC blows R2.3 million on public relations agency PR Worx in a new contract to try and repair the broadcaster's image as it duplicates SABC communications boss Gugu Ntuli's existing internal team that doesn't have all the skills and resources. 

ALSO READ: South Africa's cash-strapped SABC splurged R1.1 million on 100 bulletproof vests from medium to extra extra large; paid R54 million to independent contractors between April and October this year.

'On any given day there might be 3 out of 39 lifts working in our buildings in Auckland Park,' the SABC tells parliament.

The technically insolvent South African public broadcaster's precarious situation in terms of its backlog on the maintenance of its physical infrastructure has become so bad that on any given day only 3 out of its 39 lifts at its Auckland Park headquarters is in working order.

So says Yolande van Biljon, the SABC's chief financial officer (CFO), who on Wednesday in parliament painted a dire picture through examples of the SABC's dilapidated and deteriorating infrastructure.

The SABC that owes R1.8 billion to creditors and that is technically insolvent, struggles to pay its staff from month to month and has long since stopped doing capital expenditure on things like maintenance.

As an example of the SABC's delayed spending on capital expenditure which includes things like maintenance, Yolande van Biljon told parliament's committee on public enterprise and communication on Wednesday how terrible the situation with just the elevators inside the SABC is.

"We have to replace all the lifts in Auckland Park. That's R160 million. The lifts are 15 years past lifespan. We keep them together by making ad hoc investments and repairs and maintenance".

"On any given day there might be 3 out of 39 working in our buildings in Auckland Park," said Yolande van Biljon.

In June 2019 a fire in the cafeteria in the SABC's Radio Park building prompted the evacuation of staff with 15 people who were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.

The same Radio Park building was evacuated in May 2019 during a diesel spill that saw thousands of litres of diesel flood the building and down the elevator shaft when a power outage caused the building to switch to its back-up power generator located on the 15th floor. "A failure of the equipment led to the diesel tank overflowing," the SABC said.

SABC executives, as well as former and current SABC board members have been warning for months that the SABC has stopped and failed to do maintenance due to the broadcaster's precarious financial position with the SABC hovering on the edge of collapse and warning that the SABC's "Day Zero" and a black-on-air situation could happen any day.

In November 2018, the former SABC board member Mathatha Tsedu told and warned parliament and the minister of communications that the SABC is turning into a potential death trap.

"We haven't maintained our buildings for a very long time. Last week a huge chunk fell from the reception of the Radio Park building. The people responsible for the maintenance of our buildings have been warning that there are cracks there - something is going to happen. But we don't have the money. We're only dealing with what is broadcast critical," he said.

"If there is a crack up there and it doesn't stop us from going on air, we will not fix it until that rock falls down. And one day, it is going to fall on someone."

In September 2014 SABC management were furious when staffers put up a self-made notification - an image that was shared and send to TVwithThinus at the time, inside one of the lifts "announcing" that "we are pleased to inform you that Schindler's Lifts are due to be repaired and serviced by the year 2029".

""As a token of our appreciation for your loyalty, you are being encouraged to use the stairs provided for emergency evacuations to proceed to your various work stations".

"Those of you unable to ascend to the top, do not have any ambition in any case and are encouraged to resign," the fake notification told SABC staff.

"We appreciate your patience and know many of you will reach retirement age by the time the lifts are fixed. Together we can climb mountains".

In the internal news letter to staff at the time, a copy of which TV with Thinus obtained, the SABC addressed the lift humour, called it an "act of sabotage" and threatened whoever responsible for the note with disciplinary action.

"We are currently experiencing an abnormal amount of lift outages at this time and as First Citizen you are requested to be patient. The situation is getting a necessary intervention," the SABC told staffers.

"There are 39 lifts and 4 escalators in use on the Auckland Park premises.  Most of these lifts and escalators were installed as far back as 1972 making them over forty years old. Due to their age parts are extremely difficult to obtain and in some instances they have to be re-manufactured."

"This causes long outage periods and affects the reliability on these lifts and escalators. This is the main cause of our First Citizens having to wait for lifts".

In February 2015 scared SABC staff said that "lifts in the SABC are in a deplorable situation" and that "several of the lifts at the SABC are no longer in working order. SABC personnel often have to wait up to 10 minutes for an available lift. Others climb steps to get where they have to be".

BREAKING. SABC literally falling apart - lift plunges at Aucklandpark headquarters as SABC warns workers about 'abnormal lift outages'.

SABC workers are fearing for their safety as the SABC seems to be falling further and further apart: this morning a lift at the South African public broadcaster fell and plunged several floors, after which the SABC warned its "First Citizens" in a corporation-wide message about "abnormal lift outages".

"Lifts in the SABC are in a deplorable situation," an SABC insider told TV with Thinus this morning.

"This morning one of the lifts in the SABC's radio building fell several floors from the 4th floor to -2. Luckily the emergency brakes kicked in."

"Several of the lifts at the SABC are no longer in working order. SABC personnel often have to wait up to 10 minutes for an available lift. Others climb steps to get where they have to be," said the source.

In 2014 SABC workers got so frustrated with the broken down lifts that a worker put up a satirical note in the lifts telling SABC personnel to rather take the steps to try and reach the top, and if they don't they clearly lack ambition.

Some SABC workers didn't realise the note was a joke. The SABC called the note "sabotage".

In November 2014 the SABC suspended its head of IT, Sipho Masinga just after he released a scathing report about the shocking state of the SABC's infrastructure.

This afternoon the broadcaster told SABC workers, which the broadcaster always refer to as "First Citizens" that the broadcaster "is currently experiencing an abnormal amount of lift outages at this time on the Radiopark Low Rise lifts and as First Citizen you are requested to be patient".

The SABC told SABC staff in an internal message that "the situation is getting the necessary intervention".

The SABC admitted to SABC workers that "of the five low rise lifts installed in Radio Park only lift B is working".

"The service provider is aware of the situation and will be providing extra personnel to give attention to the repair of these lifts".

The SABC's corporate communications tasked with responding to media enquiries, calls a media enquiry that TV with Thinus made not serious, although the SABC itself in its email to staff called the lift problem "abnormal".

The SABC's communications executive Vuyo Mthembu tells TV with Thinus that "if you do not have a serious enquiry please do not write to us. The issue of lifts has nothing to do with you!"

Meanwhile members of the public invited to the broadcaster, SABC staff, talent and producers use the SABC lifts daily and all South Africans with a TV licence pay are required to pay for an SABC TV licence which makes them all a public shareholder - the biggest one - in the SABC.

SABC furious over hilarious 'sabotage' notification in Auckland Park's old and broken lifts; explains why its First Citizens have to wait for a ride to the top.

You're reading it here first.

The SABC is furious over an unauthorised message from a Fawlty Towers employee which it calls "an act of sabotage" - a notification which an SABC staff put up in the South African public broadcaster's decrepit lifts and which many employees didn't realise was a joke - to great hilarity of others.

With most of the SABC's lifts and escalators that's over 40 years old and in many instances falling apart and often breaking down, staff tell TV with Thinus that personnel often "wait up to 10 minutes for a lift".

"SABC lifts inside Auckland Park often are often not working, with out of order lifts leading to big frustration," quipped an insider. "At least there's still some people with a sense of humor at Fawlty Towers," said one.

Recently an SABC staff member put up the notice above inside an SABC lift, properly addressing SABC employees and lift users as "First Citizens" - exactly how the SABC address its staff.

"We are pleased to inform you that Schindler's Lifts are due to be repaired and serviced by the year 2099," says the "notice" which some SABC staff mistook for the real thing.

"As a token of our appreciation for your loyalty, you are being encouraged to use the stairs provided for emergency evacuations to proceed to your various work stations".

"Those of you unable to ascend to the top,do not have any ambition in any case and are encouraged to resign," the fake notification told SABC staff.

"We appreciate your patience and know many of you will reach retirement age by the time the lifts are fixed. Together we can climb mountains".

In the internal news letter to staff, a copy of which TV with Thinus obtained, the SABC addresses the lift humour, calls it an "act of sabotage" and threatens the Park's first citizen responsible for the dastardly deed with disciplinary action.

"We are currently experiencing an abnormal amount of lift outages at this time and as First Citizen you are requested to be patient. The situation is getting a necessary intervention," the public broadcaster informed its "citizens".

"There are 39 lifts and 4 escalators in use on the Auckland Park premises.  Most of these lifts and escalators were installed as far back as 1972 making them over forty years old. Due to their age parts are extremely difficult to obtain and in some instances they have to be re-manufactured."

"This causes long outage periods and affects the reliability on these lifts and escalators. This is the main cause of our First Citizens having to wait for lifts".

The SABC powers that be requested its first citizens to please report lift problems "in and around their work" as soon as they become aware of them. It's important to get a reference number which must be kept for all future references.

The SABC said that a tender for the renewal of the Auckland Park lifts and escalators is under evaluation stage "and soon the new maintenance contractor will be appointed" and that the renewed lifts and escalators "will substantially improve the availability of the lifts".

"We are aware of an earlier unauthorised message sent to create confusion. Management regards this message as an act of sabotage and anyone found to have made such remarks will be liable to a disciplinary action".