Johannesburg – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) announced that it has concluded its Section 189 process and revealed that at least 303 employees have been identified for retrenchments after their positions were considered to be redundant.
In a statement by issued on Thursday Afternoon, the public broadcaster said the outcome follows an extensive 6-month long consultation process which was made up of 48 consultations, 7 CCMA facilitated consultative sessions, 9 bilateral sessions, 28 divisional structure consultative sessions and 4 facilitated sessions by an Independent Labour Expert.
“This Section 189 process exceeded the minimum legislative requirements of 60 days and 4 sessions and was finalised on 6 November 2020. However, on 23 November 2020, the SABC Board suspended the execution of the process by 30-days to enable management to further engage directly with employees on the proposed structures. The extended consultation process ended on 31 December 2020,” reads the statement.
The SABC said it managed to reduce the number of employees to be affected by the planned retrenchment from 600 to 303, and it said the final number was to be determined by the number of employees who considers early retirement and those who opt for Voluntary severance package.
The broadcaster said it was satisfied that the Section 189 process can withstand any legal scrutiny stating that its consultation process was conducted properly and all parties were given sufficient information to engage with a purpose to reach a consensus on all the
Consultations.
“The SABC acknowledges that the retrenchment process was difficult for all stakeholders and emotionally-charged at times. The extended process also created prolonged uncertainty. However, it was a necessary part of the SABC’s turnaround plan to reposition the public broadcaster, ensure its stability and financially sustainability and allow the SABC to execute its public mandate to serve all the people of South Africa in all our languages and across all platforms,” concluded the SABC Spokesperson Mmoni Seapolelo.
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