Cope to announce action on ‘toxic’ crisis at SABC
The Congress of the People (Cope) will on Tuesday outline its action plan to tackle the “turmoil at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) caused by COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng”. “Cope has information from senior staffers that many have reached the end of their tether‚” Cope’s Dennis Bloem said ahead of a press briefing in Kempton Park in Tuesday.This comes a day after acting group CEO Jimi Matthews tendered his immediate resignation‚ saying “…the prevailing‚ corrosive atmosphere has impacted negatively on my moral judgment and has made me complicit in many decision which I am not proud of”.Cope’s Bloem used the same words: “The atmosphere is so toxic and so corrosive that journalists and their families are undergoing severe stress. Competent and capable journalists are therefore also planning to abandon ship.“The situation is untenable and in our view unconstitutional. The order not to criticise [President Jacob] Zuma and other orders go against the principles of journalism and the ethos of our Constitution. The public broadcaster has become a party propaganda machine.” ..
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