JOHANNESBURG: The SABC caught its journalists unawares when it asked them to respond to their alleged misconduct – only to fire them.
Special Assignment’s Busisiwe Ntuli and political journalist Lukhanyo Calata were busy preparing a response, which the SABC wanted by July 29, when they were summoned to the office yesterday to collect their letters of termination of service.
This was revealed by the Broadcast, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union’s (Bewawu) Hannes du Buisson, who said the SABC’s actions took them by surprise and left the journalists devastated as no one could have predicted the move the SABC would take. This was also because there had been no disciplinary committee and nowhere in the communications between the parties was there a hint that a dismissal was imminent, he said.
“This is grossly unfair and we will ask the Labour Court to overturn that decision,” Du Buisson said.
However, SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said there was no wrongdoing on their side as they had followed all processes that they needed to follow. If they think there is something wrong, they know what to do and we understand that they have already taken steps to do so and we will explain ourselves there. We won’t explain ourselves in the media.
"We won’t go out there and play in the gallery,” he said, reiterating his stance that this was “employer and employee issues, and we don’t discuss them in a public space”.
In another development in the saga, SABC 2 news anchor Ivor Price, in a show of solidarity, resigned from the public broadcaster as well, citing a hostile environment for journalists.
Ntuli, Calata and economics editor Thandeka Gqubule were the latest to be sacked in the aftermath of what is believed to stem from SABC’s editorial policy to ban the broadcasting of violent protests that were accompanied by people destroying public property.
Senior journalists Jacques Steenkamp and Suna Venter, SAfm current affairs executive producer Krivani Pillay and Radio Sonder Grense’s executive producer, Foeta Krige, were fired on Monday.
Before publication, another senior journalist, Vuyo Mvoko, had not received any indication that his contract had been terminated. He had been issued with a letter stating why he shouldn’t be suspended, but he questioned the basis of the SABC’s grievance.
The eight journalists had written a letter to the SABC a few weeks ago, questioning the ban against showing the destruction of property during protests. A suspension immediately followed.
Du Buisson said the SABC later asked Calata and Ntuli to respond to accusations of speaking to the media about that letter and also questioning the SABC’s censoring policy. The deadline for the response was July 29.