A fter weeks of rancour, sustained protest, multiple court cases and even a stand-off against the ruling party, the SABC censorship saga draws to a close today with the broadcaster’s management in full retreat.
The seven employees who were suspended, later fired and then reinstated will go back to work today after SABC managers instructed their lawyers not to go ahead with an appeal of Tuesday’s Labour Court judgment.
The court had ordered the broadcaster to reinstate four of the seven, in a judgment that was likely to be echoed in the case of the remaining three journalists.
The sudden, unexpected reinstatement of all seven circumvents the legal battle involving the other three journalists, whose own Labour Court challenge to their dismissals had been due to be heard this morning.
Speaking to The Star after the broadcaster’s decision to reinstate the journalists and drop all the legal challenges, spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said Foeta Krige, Suna Venter, Krivani Pillay, Jacques Steenkamp, Lukhanyo Calata, Busisiwe Ntuli and Thandeka Gqubule could all report for duty immediately.
“Management told the lawyers not to go ahead with the appeal, and this is the final decision,” he said. However, Kganyago would not elaborate on why the legal bid had been abandoned.
The last holdout is the case of SABC contributing editor Vuyo Mvoko, who is an independent contractor rather than an employee. He had not joined the other seven’s Labour Court challenge.
Instead, Mvoko was due to return to the high court in Joburg today to force the public broadcaster to stick to the terms of his service agreement, which the SABC suspended after Mvoko wrote an article for The Star criticising the censorship and culture of bullying at the corporation.
Here too the SABC finds itself on the backfoot following a fortnight of bruising legal setbacks.
Sources close to the process said the public broadcaster might be open to a settlement with Mvoko, and had indicated as such to his lawyers.
Mvoko’s legal representatives want the SABC to start “scheduling” their client according to the scale and frequency stipulated in his three-year freelance agreement.
They have also asked that the SABC pay compensation for its refusal to schedule him since early this month. They have further demanded it carry Mvoko’s legal costs and will ask that any settlement be made an order of court.
At the time of publication, the SABC was consulting its legal representatives to consider the terms of settlement.
Solidarity’s Dirk Hermann welcomed the legal climbdown.
“We see this as an absolute victory, we are relieved. We did not expect that; the SABC got good advice. Let’s hope that this is the end,” he said.
Krige, Venter, Pillay, Steenkamp, Calata, Ntuli and Gqubule were fired last week for misconduct, for allegedly speaking to the media about their unhappiness over the public broadcaster’s decision to ban the airing of violent protests.
Solidarity took the matter to the Labour Court on behalf of Krige, Steenkamp, Venter and Pillay.
The Labour Court ruled in favour of Krige, Steenkamp, Venter and Pillay on Tuesday, ordering that they return to work as their dismissal had been illegal.
The SABC refused to accept the court’s decision. It sent a letter to Solidarity, a few hours after the judgment, stating that it was going to appeal the matter and therefore Krige, Steenkamp, Venter and Pillay must not report for duty pending the outcome of the appeal.
Yesterday morning, the four reported for duty but were barred from entering the building.
Solidarity’s lawyers then started drafting papers to file urgently at the Labour Court to force the SABC to allow the four to return to work.
However, just before the papers could be filed, the SABC reinstated not only Krige, Steenkamp, Venter and Pillay but also Ntuli, Calata and Gqubule.
An elated Hermann said the decision took them by surprise because there had not been any indication throughout the day that the SABC would relent.
“We had given the SABC until 4pm to respond to us regarding the appeal. The documents were completed and ready to be filed when we got the messages from the SABC at 4.05pm. They did not give the reasons for the reinstatement, just that our members must go back to work,” he said.
Earlier at the SABC offices in Auckland Park there was drama when Right2Know activists were dragged out of the foyer at Radio Park, where they had staged an impromptu picket after hearing that Krige, Steenkamp, Venter and Pillay had been barred from entering the building.
The six members wandered for a while in the foyer without anyone noticing them, then took out their banners and started chanting “Journalists in, Hlaudi out”, to the amusement of the many people who were there and had not been aware of their presence.
Security officers were called and they lifted, carried and dragged the activists to a room, where they were kept for some time.
Police later arrived and escorted them out of the building.