CWU notifies SABC of strike in wage dispute, demands investigation into secret Discover Digital profit-sharing deal for SABC+.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Communications Workers' Union (CWU) has warned the beleaguered South African public broadcaster that its members will strike and demanding a swift investigation into the broadcaster's secret profit-sharing deal with Discover Digital running its SABC+ video streaming service.

The CWU's ongoing wage dispute and planned strike could have serious consequences for the broadcaster in a national election year with any strike action or labour issues that could impact the SABC's election news coverage.

While the Bemawu trade union has accepted a 6% wage increase offer, the CWU is holding out for its initial 9% wage increase, backdated to 1 April 2023. The SABC which made yet another R1.13 billion loss last year, has said it cannot do salary increases.

The CWU plans to go to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to get clarity on the picketing regulations for its planned SABC strike.

Nathan Bowers, CWU bargaining coordinator, in a statement, says the CWU is also demanding an investigation following the suspension of SABC COO Ian Plaatjes and head of video entertainment Merlin Naicker and the resignation of sales boss Reginald Nxumalo after revelations of a secretive 7.5% profit-sharing deal with Discover Digital that runs the broadcaster's SABC+ video streaming service.

The CWU says it demands "for the investigation to be expedited and serious consequences to follow".

"The revelation comes as workers who are members of CWU are in deadlock over the salary increase. The SABC continues to plead poverty while allegations of concealing profit are out there in the media."

"Workers have not had a salary increase for over three years and every time there are financial losses or financial crisis, workers have to become the scapegoat and bear the brunt through no salary increases," Bowers says.

"The plundering of the financial resources of the SABC through shady contracts and unaccounted fruitless and wasteful expenditure every financial year cannot continue and used as an excuse not to give workers a salary increase and their backdated pay. As CWU we will still continue to defend our public broadcaster by keeping an eye on all these questionable deals from all angles."

"While CWU welcomes the suspension of the two executives, we are further calling on the SABC to also place the chief financial officer Yolande Van Biljon on precautionary suspension."

Nathan Bowers says Van Biljon "also has to answer during the investigation as the person who holds the purse of the SABC. As CWU we want to know how the 7.5% slipped through her fingers in this digital deal".

ALSO READ: SABC COO Ian Plaatjes and TV boss Merlin Naicker suspended, ad boss Reginald Nxumalo resigns over undisclosed 7.5% profit-share deal with Discover Digital running SABC+.

South African actors on the US strike: 'We're absolutely in this fight with our American counterparts'.

by Thinus Ferreira

Filming of at least one series of a video streaming service, done in Cape Town, has shut down following the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike in the United States with more overseas productions done in South Africa which will follow, while the South African Guild of Actors (SAGA) says they stand united in the fight behind their American counterparts demanding better contracts and working conditions. 

American actors have joined writers, who have been striking for 80 days and counting, with three of Hollywood's big three labour unions that are now on strike.

It comes after SAG-AFTRA asked its 160 000 members to strike after the drawn-out negotiation period with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) which represents Hollywood's biggest studios and video streaming services like Netflix, expired.

SAG-AFTRA demands structural changes and improvements to the residuals paid to actors by video streaming services - the money actors earn when their work is shown on streamers. SAG-AFTRA also wants regulations to be put in place around the utilisation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) when creating TV shows and films.

"SAGA stands in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA)," Jack Devnarain SAGA chairperson told TVwithThinus.

"We are very aware of the issues that they have raised during their negotiations with the streamers. We think that these are critical issues which are of global importance because even in South Africa we are confronted with the same issues."

"American actors are looking for better residual payments for their work on the streaming platforms and very importantly, they are also looking for protection from AI so that their work can't be replicated or co-opted by software programmes. These are some of the big issues that we are facing in South Africa as well," Jack Devnarain said.

"The big difference is that while in the United States those actors have the right to unionise and to engage in industrial action, in South Africa freelancers are not protected by the Labour Relations Act - in fact, we are specifically excluded. It means we may not form a union, or engage in union activities, or to engage in industrial action like going on strike".

"This is an important opportunity in terms of establishing an industry standard around the world," Jack Devnarain said.

"Because the US is such an important engine for creative industry growth and productivity, it means that the issues they are confronted with were always going to reach boiling point much faster than anywhere else in the world. Now we are there."

"The unions in the US have taken a bold and absolutely necessary stance to stop the abuse of performers and writers and to stand for some kind of protection and to guarantee the residuals that need to be paid to performers."

"Of course in South Africa, not only are we denied royalty payments, but we also have the streaming platforms that have come into South Africa and are shamelessly exploiting South African talent while claiming that their business model does not allow for any residual payments."

"We absolutely are in this fight with our American counterparts," Jack Devnarain said.

SA: There will be show suspensions

SAGA said it's knowledgeable of at least one show for a global streaming service that suspended production in South Africa last Friday which is one of the Cape Town-based shows.

Jack Devnarain said that "We are likely to see more of those, and those are necessary suspensions because they are using US talent. Yes, there will be suspensions, and as a result there may be work being diverted towards South African writers, possibly even South African actors."

"There is however no chance that any member of the South African Guild of Actors or the Writers Guild of South Africa would exploit any such opportunity to their benefit."

Netflix South Africa which has the most shows in production in the country of the global streamers on Friday didn't respond to a media query seeking comment about the shuttering of its local shows utilising American talent. 

Amazon Prime Video SA which has also started to commission and produce shows in South Africa like LOL: Last One Laughing South Africa which has comedian Trevor Noah as host, also didn't respond to a media query.  

SA: Battle for residuals continuing

According to Jack Devnarain the discussion around actor royalties in South Africa "is still very much on the table and following the parliamentary process".

"What we are looking at is the procedural delays that happen when you are engaged in that parliamentary process. Right now the bills are sitting with the National Council of Provinces and we are expecting that in July the provinces themselves will be making their representations on the changes that they have approved on the bills. We expect a final vote from the National Council of Provinces by September."

"With that timeline - in the course of that delay - we are very aware of a very strong lobbying effort that is being conducted by such organisations as the Commercial Producers Organisation of South Africa (CPA), the Independent Producers Organisation (IPO), Netflix and MultiChoice. These are some of the organisations lobbying very strongly against the bills."

SABC personnel boss, Jonathan Thekiso, threatens SABC staffers before Friday's public protest action, saying the SABC will take 'disciplinary action' against workers who picket during their lunch break.

In a unintentionally hilarious inside memo widely doing the rounds in South Africa's TV industry and causing a lot of laughs, the personnel boss of the South African public broadcaster, Jonathan Thekiso, is warning SABC staffers that the SABC will take "disciplinary action" against anyone who takes part in Friday's planned protest action during their lunch break.

The apparently confused Jonathan Thekiso appears to be under the impression that a company or the South African public broadcaster can tell workers what they are allowed and not allowed to do during their lunch hour away from their desks: like if they're allowed to use the toilet, maybe go to Clicks, or buy a KFC Streetwise 5 - or not.

The beleaguered SABC plans to fire up to 981 of its 3 376 full-time staffers - a third of its total workforce, and will effectively fire 1 200 or half of its 2 400 freelance workers who will be gone by February 2019 in a brutal and massive planned retrenchment process that has SABC staffers up in arms.

Public protest action kicked off yesterday when SABC staffers, including basically all SABC News (DStv 404) on-air talent wore black in "mourning" of the highly criticised retrenchment plan.

Up next is Friday's public picketing at the SABC's Auckland Park headquarters in Johannesburg and at the SABC's regional offices countrywide. According to the Bemawu and CWU trade unions, this weekday picketing during the lunch hour will continue for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile momentum is building around yet another SABC strike, similar to the one in November 2017.

Before Friday's planned public protest and lunch hour picketing, Jonathan Thekiso, the SABC's head of human resources, in an internal SABC memo is telling SABC staffers that they are not allowed to take part in public picketing action during their lunch.

"The SABC wishes to reiterate that the planned 'total shutdown and or so-called peaceful demonstration' during lunchtime on Friday, 9 November 2018 is not in compliance with legislation ... and employees participating in such action will be subjected to disciplinary action," says Jonathan Thekiso.

No "shutdown" of the SABC is planned by SABC staffers on Friday, although Jonathan Thekiso apparently listened to the rumour-mill that's in overdrive inside SABC corridors as fear and anger over the draconian retrenchment plan are spreading.

Oddly, the SABC as the South African public broadcaster is supposed to support freedom of speech, freedom of self-expression, and to promote people voicing their opinions, but is once again trying to censor people and to clamp down on South Africans' basic rights.

Phumzile Van Damme, a member of parliament of the Democratic Alliance (DA) political party, in a statement on Thursday said that "it is not the SABC's business what its staff do during their lunchtime, and it is well within their rights to engage in protest".

"We have been informed by staff that no 'total shutdown' is planned, and it was a falsehood spread by the SABC that one was planned."

"The SABC's response to the protest is indicative of an authoritarian creep in an SABC that is bungling its retrenchment process."

"We maintain that a full-scale skill and salary audit should have been conducted to prevent arbitrary job losses at the public broadcaster," says Phumzile Van Damme.

"The SABC board and management are due to appear before the communications committee next week Tuesday and the DA will not hesitate to take on the SABC for its insensitive, arrogant and poor management of its retrenchment process."

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.

SABC staffers strike enters Day 2 as workers demand a 10% increase, SABC programming is disrupted and broadcaster puts 'heightened security plans' in place.

Image: SABC

A nationwide strike by SABC staffers is continuing on Friday for a second day after SABC programming on the South African public broadcaster was disrupted on Thursday when disgruntled SABC staffers demanding a 10% salary increase, started to take part in the protected strike of trade unions Bemawu and the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

Striking SABC staffers want a 10% salary hike while the beleaguered and cash-strapped SABC that is struggling to pay its ballooning debt, previously offered a 0% but is now offering a 4.5% increase backdated to October 2017.

On Thursday SABC staffers took part in public protests at the SABC headquarters in Auckland Park, as well as SABC provincial offices in Pretoria, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Durban, Port Elizabeth and elsewhere, and did the same on Friday.

On Friday workers at the South African parastatal signal distributor, Sentech, indicated that they are preparing to strike as well in solidarity with the SABC staffers.

Cosatu in a statement says the striking SABC workers have their support.

"The minister of communications and the SABC board need to intervene and make sure that the reasonable demands of the workers are met by the management."

"For years these workers have been the only shining light at SABC; they are the ones, who have kept the lights on when the politicians and their deployees were looting and collapsing the institution."

The strike comes just before the SABC is supposed to cover the ANC political party's 54th elective conference where it will be choosing its next president and the de facto president of South Africa.

CWU spokesperson Tshepo Matlou said SABC staffers are threatening to cut off the coverage of the ANC's elective conference.

"To not broadcast the ANC conference is not our decision. We don't want that to happen. But it just so happens that the workers are outside protesting and that's the SABC’s fault. The nation therefore will not be able to watch the conference".

Hannes Du Buisson, Bemawu president said the SABC "said they are in financial trouble which is not true because the SABC interim board is getting R3.9 million".

He said the R3.9 million payout to the SABC interim board was the biggest payout to a SABC board in the history of the broadcaster for the time served.

On Thursday SABC current affairs shows and news bulletins didn't take place as SABC workers started their stayaway. Several news bulletins on Thursday and Friday cut the number of stories dramatically and repeated old news stories.

"Programming on television has gone ahead as planned with no interruptions," said SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago in a statement.

"Out of the 19 SABC radio stations, only three were affected, namely Thobela FM, Munghana Lonene FM and Ikwekwezi FM."

"Their respective current affairs shows that did not go on air, as a result of presenters pulling out of the shows at the last minute".

The SABC said that the broadcaster "had received reports of intimidation of employees entering the work premises and blockage of entrance points by those who are participating in the strike".

"Management views this matter in a serious light and will be engaging with the SABC's Protection Services, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the joint planning committee to attend to this matter urgently, to ensure the safety of all employees who are not participating in the strike".

The SABC said it has "heightened security plans in place" within and around the premises of the SABC".

Failed SABC strike called off after a day and a half; trade union Bemawu says it will continue pay hike fight without CWU.

The failed SABC strike by Bemawu has been called off after a day and a half on Friday afternoon with the trade union that said it will continue to fight for a 10% pay hike for staffers despite the "commercially insolvent" public broadcaster only offering a 0% increase.

On Friday afternoon Bemawu was forced to capitulate and call of the strike.

Bemawu told its striking members to return to work after what it believed was a so-called "protected strike" was sabotaged by the abrupt withdrawal of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) after Bemawu and CWU were originally granted a joint strike notification from the CCMA.

The CWU's withdrawal from the dispute and strike meant the strike action was technically no longer protected.

The strike action inflicted some damage on the battered SABC besides denting its image further, with more on-air SABC TV news mistakes than usual, and with especially the SAfm radio station, Morning Live breakfast show on SABC2, and the main TV news on SABC3 and the SABC News (DStv 404) channel impacted by a shortage of staff.

Despondent SABC workers are angry and confused, even more so after the failed strike attempt but not just because the strike was called off.

Workers are upset that they're not getting any pay hike while the gutted public broadcaster has been looted by now mostly-gone top executives who got paid millions in salaries and pocketed vast sums of money in special bonuses that was paid improperly.

On Thursday SABC staffers at the SABC's headquarters in Auckland Park, Cape Town and Durban downed tools and took to the streets with public protests and banners, demanding a 10% salary increase.

Angry SABC staffers countrywide - in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban held up banners reading: "0% increase? Where are the money?", "SABC bosses = millions; staff = 0" and "Pay your TV Licence staff, it's the right thing to do".

Other banners read: "SABC = Animal Farm", "0% means I can't afford a real sign" and "No to 0%".

The pay hike is one of 13 demand Bemawu made to the SABC in mid-October.

The SABC interim board budgeted for no salary increase for staff before the new permanent SABC board took over two weeks ago, after the SABC made yet another, growing annual loss of R977 million that was posted end-September.

The SABC is once again hovering on the brink of financial collapse, waiting for the government to give it another cash-injection in the form of a R3 billion government-backed bank loan guarantee without which the SABC can't get money.

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. 

On Friday SABC bosses again warned staffers in an internal email to return to work, similar to an email on Thursday. The SABC on Friday told striking staffers to be back at work by 1:30, or face disciplinary hearings.

Bemawu said it will continue with its dispute, this time without the CWU.

The SABC in a statement on Friday at 16:00 said it acknowledges that Bemawu has suspended its strike action.

"The SABC has always maintained that this protest action was unprotected, as communicated to all staff members."

The SABC said it "once again calls on all staff members to report for duty with immediate effect".

SABC strike action to hit the public broadcaster from Thursday; unions give SABC two blackout options: do you want black or colour bars when programmes or signals go off air?

Unprecedented SABC strike action will hit the struggling South African public broadcaster from Thursday 2 November at 06:00 in the morning, after trade unions Bemawu and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) made good on its threat of last week to strike and on Monday served the SABC with a notice to embark on a protected strike.

SABC staffers getting ready to strike from Thursday are giving the SABC two options: Do you want black or colour bars used when SABC signals or programmes go off air due to work stoppage?

The rolling strike action, if not averted by the new permanent SABC board, will inflict more damage on the severely battered SABC.

The SABC that is once again hovering on the brink of financial collapse without a cash-injection of R3 billion from the government, is now facing looming strike action.

SABC staffers demand a 10% pay hike - far higher than South Africa's 6% inflation. 

SABC staffers also demand a bonus 13th salary check in December despite the non-performing SABC posting a loss of R977 million. Bonuses are usually paid to reward good performance.

The SABC "offers" a 0% salary increase.

Hannes du Buisson, Bemawu president told Radio 702 that the freelancers which the SABC usually would rely on to do extra work in the case of a strike "has been ill-treated by the SABC to the extent that a number of them has taken the SABC to the CCMA."


"The SABC would most probably be able to most probably broadcast all of the repeats from a hundreds years ago that the public has seen a thousands times. Whether the SABC would be able to deliver news and current affairs is a different thing".

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. 

The trade unions on Friday agreed to let the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) try and mediate the wage dispute, but that seems to have failed.

"This is a serious concern for us," SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago told SABC News, the only person who was interviewed on-air on SABC News (DStv 404) on Monday night, with no representatives from Bemawu or CWU who appeared.

"It was a surprise this afternoon when all of a sudden - before we could even go back and give a feedback - we already then get a notice for a strike,"said Kaizer Kganyago. 

"We said to them: You know our financial situation as an organisation. Can we then discuss these issues?"

Kaizer Kganyago said the SABC "is surprised" at the planned strike action.

Kaizer Kganyago said the SABC is "not going to negotiate in newspapers. We are not going to negotiate on television. We are going to negotiate in a negotiating room."

If strike action hits, Kaizer Kganyago says the SABC "will make everything in our power to make sure that the programmes appear on radio and on television as planned".

Kaizer Kganyago said the SABC "still owes a lot of people a lot of money".

SABC board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini on a statement issued by the SABC said the SABC had "noted with concern a notice to go on strike by employees affiliated to Bemawu and CWU over salary increases".

"The major priorities which emerged were the need to stabilise the financial situation and staff morale. Despite significant progress by the interim board in cutting the losses it inherited, the SABC still carries more debts than it can pay," said Bongumusa Makhathini.

"The SABC board is committed to working closely with the unions and all employees to ensure that the SABC is brought back to its former strength."

"We will uphold proper governance procedures in our interactions with the unions. It is common knowledge that the SABC is going through a financial crisis and that we have applied for a government guarantee that will, if approved, come with conditions, which we will have to adhere to."

"Amongst the things the board is looking at, are other concrete steps towards the financial stability of the corporation. The public should rest assured that programming, both on radio and TV, would be transmitted as planned," said Bongumusa Makhathini.

Unions to serve the SABC on Monday with strike notification; leaving the CCMA Monday and Tuesday to try and mediate a wage agreement before staffers down tools on Wednesday.

On Monday SABC staffers will hand-over a notification giving the South African public broadcaster 48 hours notice of an intent to strike from Wednesday if the CCMA fails to mediate some kind of an agreement between the SABC board and unions who demand a 10% pay hike and a bonus.

The SABC that is once again hovering on the brink of financial collapse without a cash-injection of R3 billion from the government, is facing debilitating strike action in the run-up to the festive season, with workers demanding a 10% pay hike and a guarantee that they will be paid a bonus 13th salary check in December despite the non-performing SABC posting a loss of R977 million.

The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media & Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) who are demanding the 10% salary increase and the December bonus, say that SABC staffers will go on a protected strike if their demands are not met.

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. 

The trade unions on Friday agreed to let the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) try and mediate the wage dispute, but still plans on serving the SABC with a strike notification in Monday.

That gives the CMMA Monday and Tuesday to try and reach some kind of settlement deal between union representatives and the new permanent SABC board, before rolling strike action could hit the SABC from Wednesday.

The interim SABC board told union that no salary increase for SABC staffers was budgeted for, with the beleaguered South African public broadcaster deep in the red. The The Auditor-General called the SABC "commercially insolvent" with the SABC board "offering" SABC staffers a 0% pay increase.

Trade union Bemawu says serving its strike notification on Monday and giving the CCMA two days to try and get a wage agreement and to "afford the parties to meet in one last final attempt to avoid a full blown strike  at the public broadcaster is the correct one".

According to Bemawu 89% of members voted in favour of a SABC strike.

CENSORSHIP. SABC News reports that employees are threatening to go on strike - after which the SABC removes all SABC News reporting about it.

SABC employees are threatening to strike, the South African public broadcaster's SABC News has reported - but the story and video report has been censored and scrubbed from the SABC News social media sites like Facebook, with the video clip of the report that has also quietly been removed from YouTube where it was uploaded to by SABC News earlier.

The SABC's SABC News division reported that angry SABC employees are threatening to go on strike as the basically bankrupt SABC continues to go through financial problems.

SABC News reported that salary negotiations were suspended after the SABC offered no increase this year, stating that it was bankrupt.

SABC News reported that "staff morale inside the SABC are at its lowest level".

SABC News reported that the Broadcasting, Electronic, Media & Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) has written an open letter to parliament's portfolio committee on communications to ensure that president Jacob Zuma approves the appointment of the new permanent SABC board and that the beleaguered SABC gets its R3 billion bailout to keep the SABC afloat.

It's not known why the SABC decided to censor and remove its own SABC News reporting online from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and elsewhere after it had already broadcast the SABC News report on television and on the SABC News (DStv 404) channel on MultiChoice's DStv platform.

On Twitter the SABC News tweet can still be seen, with SABC News reporting that "VIDEO | SABC employees threaten to go on strike youtu.be/t0s0uNL7MM".

The link to the video news report has however been censored and removed.

On the internet however, nothing is forever truly gone.

 Here the few lines can still be read that SABC News added to its description of its reporting when it posted its reporting to YouTube, although the video has been censored.

Recently Bemawu president Hannes du Buisson on 702 radio explained why over 100 SABC TV news personnel are threatening to go on strike and how the SABC's SABC Television News faces a blackout if that happens.

SABC staffers demand that the SABC reverse ashocking decision to merge their unit with with Henley Television Studio Facilities.

The SABC Television News technical personnel say the SABC must undo the merger or news employees will go on strike.

According to Hannes du Buisson, SABC staffers believe that the shocking merger was done to protect enforcers of the corrupt SABC regime from losing their jobs and to shield them from their bad financial mismanagement.