COST DRIVER
SABC is spending too much on its biggest cost driver: salaries
The public broadcaster's salary bill is R3.1bn, representing 42% of revenue
South Africans can be rightly underwhelmed when hearing about another turnaround plan for rescuing another state-owned entity (SOE). For the past 10 years we’ve seen so many failed turnaround plans at SOEs that these expensively procured, colour-coded plans could be stacked as high as the SABC’s 29-floor Auckland Park headquarters. So when the SABC board and management presented a 105-page turnaround plan to parliament in September, death by PowerPoint was not the only risk. We had to convince MPs that this plan was different and that a radical rethink was required for a sustainable public broadcaster. The organisation had a fatal disjuncture between costs and revenue, had racked up debts of over R1.3bn and had just reported a 2017/2018 loss of R622m. The auditor-general had also just given the corporation an audit disclaimer — meaning you've hit rock bottom and are on the verge of last rites being issued before you are buried. The situation is as serious as it has ever been. The fa...
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