Johannesburg - The SABC is facing a string of lawsuits with the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) suing it for R550 million for cancelling a lease agreement.
The financials of the embattled public broadcaster, which had an irregular expenditure of R5 billion in the last financial year, last week revealed in its financials in Parliament that it is defending the 11 lawsuits against it.
The SABC board and executive are expected to appear before the portfolio committee on communications today. The GEPF lawsuit is the biggest civil claim against the SABC.
Compensation
Other claims against the SABC include R57m over the concept of an education programme that was screened in one of its popular channels and a DJ demanding compensation for an alleged breach of contracts and music association suing R5.2m for royalties.
The SABC said in the report there had been various interlocutory applications and rulings over the cancellation of the GEPF lease deal in the North West province. It said it had never lost any previous interlocutory applications against the GEPF. The parties were intending to settle the matter.
“As far as the legal department is aware no settlement has been reached and the SABC is continuing to prepare for trial, which is scheduled to take place on October 17 at the South Gauteng High Court,” said the SABC.
The public broadcaster is also facing a lawsuit of R57m over an education programme. “SABC education commissioned a certain producer to produce a programme called Matrics Reloaded,” it said in the report. “After broadcasting the programme we received summons for R57m from a certain third party who claims to own the concept of the programme,” it said.
It is defending the action instituted against it and it is defending its ownership and investment of the programme.
The liquidators of the South African Recording Rights Association are suing the SABC for R5.2m in outstanding mechanical royalties.
“On May 13, 2013, the SABC was served with a warrant of execution and upon inquiring with our attorney the SABC discovered that the court had erroneously granted summary judgment in this matter,” it said. It is appealing the ruling and wants the court judgment to be reversed.
The SA Music Performance Rights Association (Sampra) is demanding R75.5m in needle time royalties from the SABC and the corporation is disputing the figure. The SABC has written to the collection society to revise its demand for R75.5m in royalties from March 2015 to February 2016.
The courts ruled that the SABC must pay 3 percent of the royalties from the revenue it generated.
Refused
Sampra had demanded royalties of 10 percent, but this was refused by the Supreme Court of Appeal and set the royalties at 3 percent of the revenue generated by the SABC.
The lawsuits against the SABC come against the backdrop of continued financial losses in three successive years.
During the 2014 financial year the SABC suffered a financial loss of more than R500m, and the auditor-general has given the public broadcaster qualified audit opinions in the last five years.
However, in 2013 the auditor-general gave the SABC a disclaimer, meaning its books were so bad the auditor-general could not give an opinion.
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