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BL Premium reports that the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has concluded its contentious retrenchment process, which will see as many as 621 employees leave the embattled public broadcaster.
The process, which began as far back as 2018, was derailed several times amid strong objections by labour unions and communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams. The broadcaster said in a statement on Tuesday that the reduction of employee costs was central to its turnaround plan and long-term sustainability. The broadcaster has a staggering wage bill of more than R3bn a year for its 3,000 permanent employees. The SABC said that consequent to the conclusion of the new structure, a total of 621 employees would leave the organisation at the end of March. It indicated that 346 of this number were employees who, notwithstanding the existence of alternative jobs, had opted for voluntary severance packages. The other 275 employees were those who occupied positions that have become redundant. SABC CEO Madoda Mxakwe said: “The extended process unfortunately also created prolonged uncertainty and a sense of despondency for many. This was understandable and regrettable. However, despite these challenges, the section 189 (retrenchment) process was a necessary component of the SABC’s turnaround plan to ensure the public broadcaster’s long term financial sustainability and capacity to fulfil its extensive public mandate.”
- Read the original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
- See too, SABC lets go of 621 employees as it concludes Section 189 process, at EWN
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page