'Frivolous spending' at SABC
2009-07-02 09:17
Thinus Ferreira
Cape Town – SABC employees have themselves discovered alleged spending splurges within the corporation and are furious about them.
These include: Petrol cards on which R18m is owed, thousands of rands worth of T-shirts for an ANC conference, security at private homes, DStv for the SABC's top management and R3.8m to print the internal newsletter.
A memorandum compiled by "Organised Labour" in the SABC was sent to the SABC's acting group head, Gab Mampone. Amongst others, the memorandum demands answers regarding recent and continuing shocking expenses by the SABC, running well into millions of rands.
When queried on Wednesday, the SABC acknowledged receipt of the memorandum.
Tip of the iceberg
It was SABC employees themselves who started investigating suspicious transactions. They say "the frivolous waste of money and mindless spending are only the tip of the iceberg".
The 13-page memorandum is in Die Burger's possession. It provides a list of astonishing expenditure which is draining the SABC of millions of rands.
Though Die Burger was not able to verify the accuracy of the respective amounts which are mentioned, the authenticity of the document itself has been established beyond a shadow of a doubt.
It was also determined that the memorandum was indeed compiled internally by SABC employees, and that it was sent to the SABC's top management.
People 'don't understand'
Kaizer Kganyago, spokesperson for the SABC, on Wednesday said: "The broadcaster does not comment on specific cases. All those things are allegations."
Regarding the detailed nature of the memorandum and how the employees obtained the information, Kganyago said, "It's sad that people get their hands on information which they don't understand and then interpret it themselves."
The public broadcaster has an operating deficit of R839m which increases every month, and is asking for a lifeline of R2bn from the government.
The memorandum states that employees "are extremely concerned regarding the manner in which money is wasted" and demands an independent forensic audit, as well as a managerial audit.
The memorandum shows that the SABC had, between November 16 2007 and June 12 2009, had about R18m's worth of petrol expenses on jointly distributed petrol cards.
More information
Furthermore, questions are asked regarding why hundreds of thousands of rands were paid and still are being paid to external consultants to do staff placements within the SABC, while no real posts are being filled.
The employees also want to know why the SABC is negotiating to sell TV series to broadcasters elsewhere in Africa at a fraction of what they're really worth. Advertisers like Unilever are apparently also quite pleased with their millions of rands in savings on advertising airtime, which was acquired at a discount of 35% during prime time, and a discount of 63.5% outside prime time.
Hannes du Buisson, president of the media workers' union Bemawu, said the union has documented evidence of the numbers which are quoted in the memorandum.
"This is really just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more things employees could get their hands on."
"We would very much like a forensic investigation to be done as soon as possible. Even in May and June, large amounts of money were still being spent unnecessarily."
- Die Burger