Johannesburg – Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has sent the SABC leadership back to the drawing board, pushing it to consider alternative measures to avoid the retrenchment of over 300 staff members.
In a letter to the public broadcaster’s board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini, the minister requests that the corporation furnish the ministry with a new structure of the organisation, a skills audit and new set of skills needed for the new operating model.
Ndabeni-Abrahams also noted that the corporation had to develop a plan that would ensure the redeployment of those affected by the retrenchment process.
She recommended further negotiations or consultations with organised labour on the section 189 retrenchment process and alternatives to be facilitated by two senior labour commissioners.
The SABC also has to provide a list of all those who were sent retrenchment letters and detail their skills set.
“The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies remains committed to ensuring the process is fair and transparent and that the outcomes of the negotiations is a win-win for all parties. Finally, chair, please rest assured that government remains committed to ensuring that the SABC be a financially sustainable organisation so that it can perform optimally in providing news, entertainment and educational information to the citizens of South Africa and abroad,” she said.
Ndabeni-Abrahams, who is under pressure from President Cyril Ramaphosa to break the long-standing impasse between the leadership of the corporation and the unions, said she had noted that there were 170 vacancies in the new structure, which could reduce retrenchments to 133 instead of the mooted 303.
In emphasising the need for further consultations, she said the initial extension of 30 days of consultation late last year had led to the planned retrenchments reduced from 600 to 303.
“Whilst there has been progress in reducing the number of redundancies, the ministries are concerned that no consensus was reached with organised labour on the four alternatives given that some consultations were facilitated by an independent labour expert.”
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