SABC CEO Mxake shares grim financials with staff

The SABC’s Group Chief Executive Officer Madoda Mxakwe outlined the 'dire financial situation' to staff on Friday as the broadcaster weighs up possible retrenchments.

This after an internal memo was distributed to employees on Thursday stating that the corporation had met with organised labour to discuss cost-cutting measures.

Mxakwe told staff that the corporation had had a demanding financial year with a total revenue of R6.6bn against a budget of R7.3bn which resulted in an under-performance of R709m. 

“The SABC had a net loss of R622m for the 2017/18 financial year. One of the SABC’s biggest cost drivers is the salary bill,” Mxakwe said in a statement. 

Mxakwe said the corporation generated R7.2bn in revenue with a salary bill of R3.1bn. 

“The current ratio of revenue to wage bill is not sustainable given the SABC’s dismal financial situation. It is for this reason that the SABC is contemplating other cost cutting measures to further reduce costs,” he said.

• READ: SABC’s ‘restructuring’ the same as retrenchments, say unions
  

Mxakwe added that the next step was that the SABC would engage in joint consensus seeking consultations with organised labour.  

SABC spokesperson Neo Momodu said on Tuesday that the corporation had done all it could to cut costs and was now at a stage where it was looking at other measures. 

"We have communicated to our staff our intentions to start engagements with unions in relation to the cost-cutting measures that we have been going through as the corporation," she had said.

She said the meeting with unions on Thursday was to inform them that the broadcaster had been looking at various ways of cutting costs, and was now "contemplating further cost-cutting measures, which may include Section 189". 

"It's a contemplation and we told the unions that we had done all we can to cut costs in all the areas of the corporation..." she said. 

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