The SABC says its buildings are dilapidated and it is in need of resources to revamp the facilities, including its studios.
SABC finance chief Yolande van Biljon told parliament the corporation was operating in facilities, especially at its Auckland Park headquarters, that are more than 45 years old and which had limited or no maintenance over the past 15 years.
“Yes, we are operating in facilities that are 45 years old-plus and [we] require an extensive capital overhaul and of course noting that for the better part of that period, in particular the last 15 years, there was limited to no investment in infrastructure both in buildings as well as technology,” she said.
She was answering MPs’ questions during a meeting of parliament’s portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies on Wednesday.
DA MP Natasha Mazzone had asked the SABC about the dilapidated state of its buildings that had no water including studios where the air conditioning was not working.
“We are far advanced with the workspace strategy and hopefully the final approvals and funding models can be secured in the next three months at which point we will look at completely overhauling the Henley facility, in particular where the studios and news [facilities] are, to bring it up to date with the best practices in terms of office space.”
Van Biljon said like the rest of Johannesburg in the past year, the SABC was significantly affected by water issues and as a result there were continuous days of no or limited water.
“Ultimately, we don’t have water to run our chillers which is what powers our air-cons. We are then forced to power these down.”
She said the SABC has backup water for up to a day on campus, but it was in the process of increasing that to about two-and-a-half days.
Veteran journalist Anton Harber tweeted he was at the SABC at the weekend and there was no air-conditioning, no water in the building and the sound system was crashing.
“But unfortunately, in events like that and often with no advance notice, we do find ourselves challenged and if that coincides with the hottest weekends so far, then you find what happened this weekend, unfortunately,” Van Biljon said.
She said in the news division alone, R238m was being invested to enhance software and related technology. This started last year and will continue for another four years.
Meanwhile, the broadcaster is hoping to raise about R121m from the proceeds of properties it has been disposing of across the country.
TimesLIVE
SABC facilities dilapidated and need an overhaul, says broadcaster's CFO
Image: Lefty Shivambu
The SABC says its buildings are dilapidated and it is in need of resources to revamp the facilities, including its studios.
SABC finance chief Yolande van Biljon told parliament the corporation was operating in facilities, especially at its Auckland Park headquarters, that are more than 45 years old and which had limited or no maintenance over the past 15 years.
“Yes, we are operating in facilities that are 45 years old-plus and [we] require an extensive capital overhaul and of course noting that for the better part of that period, in particular the last 15 years, there was limited to no investment in infrastructure both in buildings as well as technology,” she said.
She was answering MPs’ questions during a meeting of parliament’s portfolio committee on communications and digital technologies on Wednesday.
DA MP Natasha Mazzone had asked the SABC about the dilapidated state of its buildings that had no water including studios where the air conditioning was not working.
“We are far advanced with the workspace strategy and hopefully the final approvals and funding models can be secured in the next three months at which point we will look at completely overhauling the Henley facility, in particular where the studios and news [facilities] are, to bring it up to date with the best practices in terms of office space.”
Van Biljon said like the rest of Johannesburg in the past year, the SABC was significantly affected by water issues and as a result there were continuous days of no or limited water.
“Ultimately, we don’t have water to run our chillers which is what powers our air-cons. We are then forced to power these down.”
She said the SABC has backup water for up to a day on campus, but it was in the process of increasing that to about two-and-a-half days.
Veteran journalist Anton Harber tweeted he was at the SABC at the weekend and there was no air-conditioning, no water in the building and the sound system was crashing.
“But unfortunately, in events like that and often with no advance notice, we do find ourselves challenged and if that coincides with the hottest weekends so far, then you find what happened this weekend, unfortunately,” Van Biljon said.
She said in the news division alone, R238m was being invested to enhance software and related technology. This started last year and will continue for another four years.
Meanwhile, the broadcaster is hoping to raise about R121m from the proceeds of properties it has been disposing of across the country.
TimesLIVE
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