Broke SABC on brink of collapse
The public broadcaster’s executives told MPs they are not sure the company will be able to pay employees’ salaries at the end of March
The SABC is on the verge of collapse with executives telling MPs on Tuesday that the company cannot guarantee it will be able to pay its employees’ salaries at the end of March. The broadcaster, which remains the only source of news and commentary for millions of South Africans, has requested R6.8bn from the government to stay afloat, but its bid for funding has so far been unsuccessful. However, communications minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams confirmed on Tuesday that the National Treasury had agreed to grant SABC interim relief. The amount of money to be granted was yet to be confirmed, the minister said. Briefing parliament’s communications portfolio committee on Tuesday, SABC CEO Madoda Mxakwe said the broadcaster’s cash flow is depleted, so it cannot honour payments to service providers, adhere to its committed contracts and commission local content productions. “The SABC cannot guarantee that it will be able to pay its employees’ salaries at the end of March 2019. Should this ...
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