While the Communications Workers Union has welcomed the SABC’s decision to fire two top executives for their involvement in a secret multimillion-rand profit arrangement on a digital contract, they are calling for more heads to roll.
This comes after Ian Plaatjes, who has served as the SABC’s chief operations officer since November 2019, and head of video entertainment Merlin Naicker had their employment contracts terminated with immediate effect following a disciplinary process.
Speaking to TimesLIVE Premiun on Sunday, CWU national bargaining co-ordinator Nathan Bower accused the SABC of pleading poverty in the face of allegations of concealing profit, while failing to hold all those involved accountable, as well as financial managers under whose watch mismanagement was taking place.
Plaatjes and Naicker were suspended in February at the same time that head of advertising sales Reginald Nxumalo resigned.
This happened after their alleged failure to disclose a 7.5% profit-share deal with Discover Digital that runs the public broadcaster’s SABC+ video streaming service was discovered.
It’s good that people have been fired, but the enablers must also be investigated. You cannot say that it was just those execs that were corrupt, what about Discover Digital?
— Nathan Bower, CWU national bargaining co-ordinator
“What the CWU is saying is that the SABC must continue to execute consequence management in the face of huge ongoing corruption. It’s good that people have been fired, but the enablers must also be investigated. You cannot say that it was just those execs that were corrupt, what about Discover Digital?” Bower said.
A City Press report at that time said the suspensions were on legal advice from Werksmans law firm. The suspensions were recommended after an internal audit by the SABC into the secretive profit-sharing deal came to the conclusion that the three executives had failed to act in the SABC’s best financial interests.
Werksmans said Plaatjes, Naicker and Nxumalo had allegedly deliberately concealed crucial information of the 7.5% profit-share agreement from the SABC's executive committee during their presentation of the deal before it was signed.
They claimed the the public broadcaster would get 100% of the advertising revenue made through SABC+, but later signed a deal in which the service provider would get 7.5%.
Werksmans found a prima facie case for gross dishonesty against all three. City Press reported that the SABC has a R35m contract with Discovery Digital, renewable for five years, to run SABC+ as its over-the-top (OTT) video streaming service.
“Werksmans found that the initial agreement in November 2022 should have seen 100% of the advertising profits going to the SABC (before the secret split of 7.5% going to Discover Digital was agreed). This investigation must be taken forward because those enablers are still out there running that platform,” Bower said.
Bower said the union was also calling for an investigation into SABC CFO Yolande van Biljon, who was in charge when the digital deal was signed, and for the irregular expenditure that has happened at the broadcaster over the past five years under her watch.
He said the dismissals have come on the back of the resolution of an ongoing salary dispute that would see workers getting increases and back-dated pay in September following a three-year wage freeze.
“Then yesterday (Saturday) they told us they don’t have money for the 2024/25 wage deal,” Bower told TimesLIVE Premium.
"The plundering of the financial resources of the SABC through shady contracts and unaccounted fruitless and wasteful expenditure every financial year cannot continue and be used as an excuse,” Bower said.
SABC executive for corporate affairs and marketing Mmoni Seapolelo said: “The board has duly considered the findings and recommendations of the report by an independent chairperson and decided to release Mr Plaatjes from his duties as the SABC’s COO with immediate effect. The SABC can also confirm that the group executive for video entertainment, Mr. Merlin Naicker, is also released from his duties with immediate effect following a disciplinary hearing.”
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