SABC suspends two officials

Following the suspension of two senior officials at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), workers in the telecoms industry have called for broader investigations into the state-owned broadcaster.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) have since asked to meet with officials form the Department of Communications to discuss grievances about the SABC.

The trade union said in a statement: “As a result of the sit-in by members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) at the SABC on 11 March 2009, both General Manager of TV Sales, Mr Strini Naicker, and Mrs Lene Chamberlain, who is responsible for appointments at the SABC, have been put on special leave by the Action Group Chief Executive Officer of the SABC as from Thursday 12 March 2009 until such time that an internal audit investigation has been completed and the Audit Report is released,

“However, based on a plethora of allegations, the CWU does not want to confine the investigation to the Sales and Marketing Division but rather a holistic investigation should be conducted into the whole SABC. In this regard the union has convened an urgent meeting with the Deputy Minister of Communications to escalate its demand for an independent forensic audit.”

The Minister of Communications, Dr. Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, had this week received an independent report about governance at the public broadcaster from audit firm Deloitte.