CAPE TOWN – SABC group chief executive Madoda Mxakwe said the SABC had, during the year under review, exceeded the Independent Communications Authority of SA’s (Icasa’s) local content and genre quotas on television and performed well on its local quotas on radio.
While the SABC covered numerous news, current affairs and sports events – most of them live, on the governance side, the SABC was focussed on reducing its internal and external audit findings and also implemented performance management and drove the culture of consequence management “more rigorously”.
He said the SABC had a tough financial year wherein its cash resources were stretched.
The SABC’s total revenue, Mxakwe said, stood at R6.6 billion against a budget of R7.3bn – which translated to an underperformance of R709 million. However, the SABC recorded a year-on-year performance improvement of R56m.
The public broadcaster’s expenditure stood at R7.269bn against a budget of R7.279bn, resulting in a net loss of R622m.
SABC chief executive Chris Maroleng said while the broadcaster’s TV channels continued to deliver quality local and international content to 28 million South African viewers, radio stations have remained relevant and widely accessible to 28 328 million viewers.
“In the year under review, the all-adult share, that is of people who are counted as 15 years and above was steady at just over 70 percent, which in real terms translates to just over 28 million South Africans,” he said.
Meanwhile Mxakwe said in order to address profitability and long-term sustainability, SABC would have to address the challenges of its funding model, cost base and operational inefficiencies.
He also said the SABC will work towards ensuring that the organisation is run efficiently and effectively and that it would redirect spending and simplify procedures in a way that supports a more sustainable and creative public broadcaster.
SABC, Mxakwe said, was in a process of “rehabilitation and renewal” and that it must be carefully managed and restored to ensure the fulfilment of its unique public mandate.
He said good progress has been made in stabilising the SABC as well as strengthening its governance and that efforts were being made to retain its integrity.