City Press reports that the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) last week had to scramble to explain a whopping R877,000 bonus paid to its acting group chief executive officer (CEO) Nomsa Philiso.  

The bonus prompted questions in Parliament, but the public broadcaster was adamant that she had earned it through sheer hard work.  The SABC’s latest annual report revealed that Philiso earned a total of R3.37m in the year ended March 2016, which included bonuses and commissions to the tune of R877,000.  This was earned while she was one of the broadcaster’s salespeople – long before she became its acting chief.  Acting SABC chief financial officer Thabile Dlamini told Parliament that Philiso’s bonus came for heading the commercial enterprises division, but City Press established that during the period for which she received the bonus, she had not been heading the division.  It was then explained by the SABC spokesman that Philiso had been general manager for sales operations, a unit within the commercial enterprises division – thus making her one of about 300 employees who qualified for the incentive scheme in the unit.  DA spokesperson Phumzile van Damme said she wanted to know how the SABC could pay a senior executive a bonus or commission of almost R1m while it was in serious financial trouble.

• Read this report by Andisiwe Makinana in full at News24

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