SABC ordered to reinstate producer axed for ‘sabotaging’ Ramaphosa

After making bold claims of sabotage two years ago, the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has quietly reinstated the producer axed for airing a rehearsal clip of Cyril Ramaphosa delivering a speech, but have seemingly gone mum on their claims of a “well-co-ordinated plan to sabotage” the president.

In September 2019 the state broadcaster blundered and aired a clip of the president rehearsing his anti-gender-based violence speech, in the wake of protests sparked by the murder of University of Cape Town student Uyinene Mrwetyana.

Also Read: Ramaphosa blunder video was ‘coordinated’ sabotage, claims SABC

Producer Rozalia Whitehead was given the blame for the incident and given the sack, but this decision has been overturned by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

The public broadcaster was ordered to reinstate Whitehead to the same position she had occupied at the time of her dismissal with retrospective effect, and she was to report back to work on 1 October 2021. 

Communication Workers Union (CWU) deputy general secretary Thabo Mogalane confirmed that Whitehead has been reinstated to her position and that she reported for work on Monday.

At the time of the incident, the broadcaster’s head of news Phathiswa Magopeni, told the public that their preliminary investigation uncovered “a well-co-ordinated plan” to sabotage Ramaphosa.

She said transmission was going smoothly until then and that there was another incident on that day that they were investigating, arguing that this could not have been a coincidence.  

But Whitehead’s lawyer Kingsley Zitha said the public broadcaster was unable to produce the findings of the investigation when requested to do so.

“In fact we were told there was no such investigation or finding. If there is any substance to this claim of sabotage, it is only known to the SABC and not Whitehead. The whole incident was as a result of lack of proper communication,” he said.

Zitha said there were several people involved in the mishap but his client was the only one dismissed, while some very senior executives should have been disciplined.

Also Read: Sabotage at SABC of Ramaphosa’s address threw govt under bus – Mthembu

He said Whitehead has had to live with the sabotage stigma for two years and that this hurt her enormously.

“What is important to her now is that she has her job back as this was all she wanted. So we need to be careful how we manage this relationship for a positive working environment,” Zitha said.

He said they were, however, not entirely satisfied with the outcome, since Whitehead’s reinstatement was back-dated to January 2020, instead of September 2019, the date of her dismissal.

“The {CCMA} commissioner has discretion but we are baffled as to what could have been the reason that motivated that. We believe her reinstatement should have been from the date of her dismissal,” Zitha, of Kingsley Zitha Incorporated added.

Magopeni referred questions to corporate affairs head Gugu Ntuli who could not be reached for comment, and ignored text messages.

The CWU has said the wrong clip was played on air because of poor management and running the department on skeleton staff.

The union has called on SABC management to apologise to the public and parliament about the “deceptive” sabotage claim.

• siphom@citizen.co.za