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By Sihle Mlambo 
2h ago
Johannesburg – SABC spent more than R $ 35 billion paying the salaries of 2,979 employees with an average salary of R791,000 per person during the 2019/20 financial year, according to the annual report of the public broadcaster.
In comparison, in the previous financial year, the public broadcaster had spent more than R $ 4 billion paying the salaries of 3,167 employees with an average salary of R762,000 per person during the 2018/19 financial year.
SABC announced a net loss of 511 million rand for the 2019/20 financial year and more than 400 employees faced the possibility of downsizing after the Section 189 letters were issued.
In a bid to remain commercially viable, the SABC said it planned to issue layoff notices to 400 workers in a bid to save R700m each year for the next three years. Slightly more than 170 jobs would be saved from those issued with notices.
The SABC said it would restructure the organization, freeze salaries for three years, end the leave payment policy and revise its annual and sick leave policies in a bid to make the public broadcaster viable.
In its annual report, the SABC showed that eight senior management employees left with an average salary of R3.9 million. The eight senior management employees received a collective pay of R31 million from each other at the end of the year. In the previous year, 11 senior managers received R38 million with an average salary of R3.46 million.
In terms of senior management, 27 employees received a collective pay of R58 million from each other, at an average cost of R1.1 million each. Last year, 34 senior managers received a collective pay of R67.6 million from each other, at an average cost of R1.9 million each.
In terms of middle management, 374 employees were paid a collective of R 461 million among themselves, at an average cost of R 1.2 million each. Last year, 412 middle managers were paid a total of R484 million between them, at an average cost of R1.1 million each.
In terms of junior management, 489 employees were paid a total of R487 million among themselves, at an average cost of R998,000 each. Last year, 522 junior managers received a collective pay of R492 million from each other, at an average cost of R944,000 each.
In terms of supervisors, 1,652 employees received a collective pay of R 1.1 billion among themselves, at an average cost of R 678,000 each. In the previous year, 1762 employees received a collective pay of 1.1 billion rand among themselves, at an average cost of R646,000 each.
The lowest paid group of staff, referred to as “other staff” in their pay level codes, saw 429 employees collectively paid R199m at an average cost of R464,000 each.
In the previous year, 426 employees were paid a collective of R192 million at an average cost of R451,000 each.
Salaries by department
SABC’s annual report did not distinguish remuneration by type of job, but it did show the different salaries paid by the different divisions of the group.
Some savings were observed in the various divisions of SABC as the number of staff began to decrease slightly.
The annual report showed that the news service had the largest salary bill and the most employees in the group.
The 767 news employees took home a collective of R618 million, at an average cost, including benefits, of R806,000 per person. The previous year, 842 employees took home a collective of R659 million, at an average cost of R784,000 per person.
The 606 IT / IT employees took home a collective of R464 million, at an average cost of R766,000 per person. In the previous year, 651 employees took home a collective of R478 million, at an average cost of R735,000 per person.
The 667 group service employees took home a collective of R517 million, at an average cost of R776,000 per person. Last year, 679 employees received a collective pay of R475 million, at an average cost of R700,000 per person.
The 303 radio employees took home a collective of 243 million rand, at an average cost of 803,000 rand each. Last year, 322 employees took home a collective of R255 million, at an average cost of R793,000 each.
The 218 employees of the trading companies took home a collective of R 170 million, at an average cost of R 783,000 each. Last year, this division paid a total of R 201 million to 230 employees at an average cost of R 876,000 each.
The 231 television employees took home a collective of 191 million rand, at an average cost of 829,000 rand each. Last year, 243 employees took home a collective of 192 million rand, at an average cost of 793,000 rand each.
The 135 employees from provincial operations took home a collective of R103m, at an average cost of R766,000. Last year, 147 employees took home a collective of R100m, at an average cost of R685,000.
The 52 sports employees took home a collective of 48 million rand, at an average cost of 924,000 rand each. Last year, 53 employees took home a collective of R50 million, at an average cost of R955,000 each.
The annual report also showed that SABC had a total of 237 unskilled workers, 1006 semi-skilled workers, 1814 skilled workers, and 472 skilled professional workers.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the SABC said it would go ahead with the cuts at the public broadcaster after the group’s news and current affairs executive said Tuesday afternoon in a heated meeting with staff that the reduction notices had been withdrawn.
“In light of the unfortunate incident that took place last night in our news division, please be aware that the Section 189 process continues as planned.
“SABC management and its board of directors apologize for any confusion that was generated yesterday afternoon. Management will communicate with the news team about the concerns they have raised, ”the SABC said in an urgent update Wednesday morning.
The board’s vice chairman, Mamodupi Mohlala-Mulaudzi, said the board was divided over the layoffs at the public broadcaster.
She said at least five board members, including herself, were against the staff cuts at SABC.
“Some board members disagree with the Section 189 process. We believe there needs to be better consultation and we believe that Section 189 takes the SABC back rather than forward.
“Some board members have been pushing this Section 189 issue very vigorously, but some of us believe that the Section 189 process will have a detrimental effect on SABC’s restructuring strategy,” he said.
MESS
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