Johannesburg – Talks between Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams and the SABC leadership are headed for a new stalemate.
This is after the top brass of the embattled public broadcaster decided to go ahead with the retrenchment of 303 workers, despite alternatives offered by Ndabeni-Abrahams and Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi.
Last week, Ndabeni-Abrahams wrote to the corporation’s chairperson, Bongumusa Makhathini, requesting that the organisation reconsider the job cuts, furnish the ministry with a new structure of the organisation, a skills audit and new set of skills needed for the new operating model.
She also noted the corporation had to develop a plan to ensure the redeployment of those affected by the retrenchment process and recommended further negotiations or consultations with organised labour on the section 189 retrenchment process and alternatives, facilitated by two senior labour commissioners.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said they had noted that there were 170 vacancies in the new structure, which could reduce retrenchments to 133 instead of the mooted 303. But the SABC is forging ahead with the retrenchments.
“The SABC can also confirm that the total number of affected employees is 303 and this number emanates from the extensive section 189 consultation process to minimise the total number of affected employees, which was originally projected at 600 redundancies. There are also 170 vacancies that affected employees can apply for,” SABC spokesperson Mmoni Seapolelo said.
“The SABC is satisfied that its section 189 process can withstand any legal scrutiny, as confirmed by the Labour Court on 2 December 2020, that the SABC properly conducted itself in the process, provided all consulting parties with sufficient information and constructively engaged with a view to reach consensus on all the consultations.” The ministry’s spokesperson, Mish Molakeng, said Ndabeni-Abrahams and Nxesi would continue to engage all parties at the SABC to find an amicable solution and that they were mindful of the need to achieve financial sustainability at the corporation.
“It is in this spirit that minister Ndabeni-Abrahams and minister Nxesi made proposals to both the union and the SABC board to consider in order to find an amicable resolution to the current industrial relations impasse at the broadcaster,” he said.
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