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The SABC building in Auckland Park in Johannesburg, South Africa.
- The SABC has announced that it will cancel the leases of some of its “secondary properties” as it seeks to reduce costs.
- Some of these include residential properties rented to employees.
- The public broadcaster says that to ensure a “fair and transparent process” it will hold a public auction of the properties, but has not yet announced a time.
The cash-strapped public broadcaster, South African Broadcasting Corporation, announced that it will cancel leases of “non-essential properties” through a public auction, including some residential properties leased to employees.
In a statement on Friday morning, the broadcaster said it would start issuing termination notices starting next month.
“To ensure a fair and transparent disposition process for its non-essential residential assets, the public broadcaster will hold a public auction,” he said.
“Therefore, the SABC will not be able to offer the right of first refusal to current tenants, since the process of buying the properties will be open to the public. This decision is part of the recommendations of the process undertaken in line with the PMFA.”
While the broadcaster did not say when the auction would take place, it said that “in an effort to accommodate tenants” and “since the holiday season is upon us,” it will extend the termination notice period beyond of the lease contracts. .
It will make a formal announcement for the public auction date at a later date. It did not immediately say which properties would be affected or how employees could be affected.
Yolande van Biljon, SABC’s chief financial officer, said in a statement that the disposal of non-core assets was part of the public issuer’s restructuring plan. “The sale of non-core assets will also aid in the much-needed cash injection necessary for the SABC to be and remain financially sustainable.”
SABC has been suffering for years economically from declining advertising revenue and low license fee rates, which critics say have been compounded by mismanagement and corruption.
The announcement comes three days after SABC said it will extend the suspension of a downsizing process until the end of December, as it tries to find a solution to the deadlock between management and workers.
Earlier this month, some SABC employees went on strike after 400 employees received notices of potential job cuts. The decision was met with fierce resistance from the unions and affiliated movements, with threats of a broadcast blackout.
