SABC says acting CEO earned R877K bonus through ‘hard work’

The SABC this week was reportedly faced with a task of explaining the discrepancy between a R877 000 bonus for its acting group chief executive officer (CEO) Nomsa Philiso and the reason she claimed to have received the money.

DA spokesperson Phumzile van Damme, who is a member of the parliamentary portfolio committee on communications, wanted to know how the SABC could pay a senior executive a bonus or commission of almost R1 million while it was in financial trouble.

The SABC’s latest annual report revealed that Philiso earned a total of R3.37 million in the year ended March 2016, City Press has reported.

But the public broadcaster was adamant that she earned the bonuses and commissions of R877 000 through hard work.

Acting SABC chief financial officer Thabile Dlamini reportedly told parliament this week that the bonus came from an incentive scheme in the SABC’s commercial enterprises division, which incentivises staff who meet their targets.

She explained Philiso’s bonus as “an overlap of the 2014/15 fiscal, which was a good year in terms of performance for commercial enterprises”.

SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago also explained that the amount reflected in the 2016/17 financial year originated from “the bankable amount in financial year 2014/15”.

“It is therefore correct to say that it is an overlap from the 2014/15 fiscal,” he was quoted as saying by the publication.