SABC GCEO Nomsa Chabeli says the broadcaster’s corporate plan and strategy have been approved by the board.
Chabeli says much of her two months at the helm of the public broadcaster, together with her EXCO team, were spent putting together that plan and strategy.
Speaking about staff morale at the SABC, she says that through interaction, she knows they need to be inspired.
“They’re very committed to delivering on the public mandate, they understand the commercial imperatives of the SABC, and the fact that they are here, and they come to the SABC every morning, is something that needs to be acknowledged.”
She adds that staff also understand that for the corporation to be financially sustainable in the future, things have to be done differently.
Meanwhile, the SABC has been battling cash flow challenges in recent years amid an increasingly competitive broadcasting space in the digital era.
This has left the SABC with a massive outstanding payment of R950 million to signal distributor Sentech.
Chabeli says a strategy has been put in place to continue broadcasting.
” We have been in discussions with them where we are talking about payment plans so I need to say that. It’s something that the SABC is prioritizing because signal distribution is critical to us. Without a signal, it’s black on the air. So yes, we do have those challenges but currently, we used to pay Sentech at some point R15 million, it went up to R25 million, but we’ve increased our payments to Sentech. We’ve put together a strategy that’s going to ensure that there is no risk when it comes to the elections.”
