DA launches ‘struggling SABC monitor’ until top-dog salaries disclosed

In recent weeks, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has lambasted the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) top management for taking home inflated salaries despite reporting financial woes at the public broadcaster.

According to EWN, the SABC called on the DA to stop making what it calls “incorrect and misleading claims that could undermine its efforts to get back on track financially” after the party stated that the public broadcaster is planning on freezing salaries and hiring of new staff.

“We’d like to place it on record that the salaries of the recently appointed executives are board members. They have been significantly reduced and bear no resemblance as it’s quoted in the DA’s statement,” said SABC spokesperson Neo Modudu.

The party then hit back today by referring to the SABC’s 2017/18 annual report which was tabled in parliament. The party claims that the report reveals that for the year ending in March 2018, the SABC’s top management still earned highly inflated salaries.

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The DA also highlighted that the report reveals “a public broadcaster that is commercially insolvent and received a disclaimed audit opinion from the Auditor-General.”

The A-G found that the SABC only achieved 40% of its targets, in addition to findings such as the current irregular expenditure balance sitting at R5 billion after it incurred R571 million in 2017/18, and the fruitless and wasteful expenditure balance shooting up to R230 million from R84 million in the same period the previous year.

The findings also state that the public broadcaster’s financial loss for the year sits at R622 million while they only have R1.2 billion in cash flow for the year.

“Top management for the year ending 31 March 2018, earned exactly the same inflated salaries of the Hlaudi Motsoeneng era with the basic salaries of the GCEO being R6.5 million, the CFO R4.1 million and the COO, R2.7 million. Group Executives salaries range from R3.8 million (Head of Television), to R3.5 million ( Risk and Governance),” states the DA.

The party has listed its qualms with the fact that the broadcaster refuses to disclose the exact amounts that their top management earn and have since vowed to press on with the matter by starting a “Struggling SABC Monitor” which will run until the SABC reveals the amount that its top honchos earn.

“As the public broadcaster, this is not confidential information and should be released publicly,” adds the DA.

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