Johannesburg - The public broadcaster is out of financial trouble and is now a sustainable entity, says SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
“For the SABC to run, you need R600 million in the bank. That is what we need. If we check now, we are next to triple (that amount) in the bank, which means financially we are okay,” Motsoeneng said yesterday.
He was speaking during a media briefing to announce Nomsa Philiso as the new group executive for commercial enterprises division.
Philiso replaced Anton Heunis, who has retired.
Austerity measures were introduced at the public broadcaster in 2009 when it was almost near collapse because of financial mismanagement and maladministration.
“In 2009, during austerity, in the bank we had R15m. There was no SABC. In 2010, it was R115m. In 2011, it was R109m and in 2012, it was R218m. In 2013, it was around R1.1 billion… In 2014, we were around R1.4bn,” Motsoeneng said.
He credited the financial turnaround to Heunis.
“But we are not happy because we believe we can do better. We believe the SABC can’t be a R6bn or R7bn company. I believe we can put the SABC at R15bn. We believe that that is what we can achieve.”
Asked when a chief executive officer would be appointed, Motsoeneng said it was up to Communications Minister Faith Muthambi to do so.
However, he was not daunted by having dual roles since he is also acting in the vacant position.
“Remember, the CEO is appointed by the shareholder (the government). Who am I to appoint the CEO? I don’t think I will enjoy (serving as) the group CEO of this organisation,” he said.
In an interview with The Star later, he said he was comfortable doubling as chief operations officer and acting chief executive officer.
“It’s not burdensome. For me, it’s just work. I’m here to work and it’s business as usual,” Motsoeneng said.
He has been acting as chief executive since November, when Heunis fell ill. At the time, the SABC insisted that Motsoeneng was merely standing in for Heunis.
The Star