SABC jobs bloodbath, while executives keep cushy jobs

There is a panic among staff at the SABC, after the executive management downgraded all significant posts and rendered 95 employees redundant across the board in the name of cost cutting.

News managers, executive producers, and senior journalists face imminent demotion to lower ranks, as the broadcaster looks to introduce a lean newsroom structure that would render many posts redundant.

The SABC newsroom currently has a staff complement of 764, excluding the freelancers, and besides the 95 facing a bleak future, at least 300 freelancers are also facing dismissal.

According to a document leaked to The Citizen titled “SABC Proposed Structures 19 October 2020”, the corporation based its decision on what it termed “bloated disintegrated structures” – too many people compared to the job requirement at hand, benchmarks, best practice and expected delivery.

“Many jobs have nothing to do. The organisational structures are very hierarchical (too many levels) and with very unreasonable span of control to many leadership roles,” the document reads.

It said SABC leadership specialist roles were set ahead of the market, significantly positioned as first among peers as compared to the work they do. The structures and grades were based on a group model, when there was no group of companies within the SABC.

“Exploration of alternatives to flatten the structure and adjusting grades are key towards the reduction of total compensation bill,” the document reads.

Also read: SABC staff fight for public mandate to stay

Although staff jobs would be downgraded, the senior executives are, however, not affected in what staff saw as “constructive dismissal” of employees. Instead, the executives would keep their jobs, job scales and their hefty salaries intact.

Ninety five staff members – from senior news managers, executive producers, and senior reporters – would be demoted to lower positions. A total of 18 of 23 national editors currently at a scale of 125 would drop to scale 130, a rank lower than their current one.

Only five national editors would be retained, with a new title of managing editors at scale 125.

If the 18 redundant editors are interested in the managing editor posts, they would be expected to reapply, or accept being downgraded or dismissed.

Heads of news in regions would be demoted to regional news editors, while the executive producers, currently at scale 130 would be downgraded to scale 300 as programme producers. This meant that an executive producer, a middle management position with executive and financial authority over a programme, would no longer do that in the downgraded new position or programme producer – a junior management post.

The move is a sequel to an earlier SABC Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act notice to unions and staff about impending restructuring of the newsroom, which turned out to be “retrenchments in disguise”.

The staff have pointed an accusing finger at general manager: news, Phathiswa Magopeni, for the situation. They claim Magopeni championed the downscaling and downsizing, as she was under pressure to save R93 852 604 at the expense of the 95 people facing demotion or redundancy.

“It was a rushed and staff were not given a chance to make inputs. Phathiswa’s presentation did not have all stakeholders and this was deliberate and she only presented this to staff on 26 June. Last week she presented the structure that was incomplete because it had no scale codes, and it was late for unions to interrogate it,” said an employee.

The decision has sparked outrage among all staff and unions at the corporation. “Who is going to accept demotion? It’s humiliation. There are serious implications on people’s lives,” said the employee, who preferred to remain anonymous.

Unions are also up in arms and plan to challenge the decision.

In terms of a newsroom structure presented by Magopeni, post scale codes had been downgraded across the board. Staff on scale 125 would go down to 130 such as national editors and provincial heads of news, who would become regional news editors.

Specialist desks such as editors for politics, sports, economics, parliament and foreign affairs would be demoted to mere news editors of their respective fields, at scale 130 from 125. The staff complements for specialist editors, who would report to Managing editor/Forward planning editor, would be cut from 75 to 21 with 54 rendered redundant.

The foreign and parliamentary correspondents, currently at 130 would be lowered to 300 and go from middle to junior management level.

Senior reporters for parliament, health, education etc. and senior producers, and bulletin and copy editors would be reduced from 158 to 110, with 48 becoming redundant. Meanwhile, low-level jobs such as beat reporters and senior writers would be increased by 90 to 226 and their scales upgraded from 401.

“This demotion of seniors and promotion of juniors will affect the morale of senior staff, because they are now being equated to the juniors with the same scale of 401. Phathiswa is causing this damage. She is juniorising and taking control of the newsroom

“They have to downgrade, it’s a serious cut in people’s salaries. If this is implemented on 1 November,  it means their jobs will not be there anymore and they will opt to resign or apply for lower level jobs. This is constructive dismissal that cuts across the newsroom,” a disgruntled employee said.

Attempt to get comment from SABC spokesperson, Mmoni Seapolelo, proved futile.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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