Pretoria – Civil rights movement #NotInMyName said on Thursday it will be joining planned protests at SABC offices as the Communication Workers Union and other unions tackle the national broadcaster’s board and management plans to retrench hundreds of employees.
“#NotInMyName stands in solidarity with all SABC staff, especially those affected by the section 189 retrenchments that are being served.
’’The board needs to come up with a different plan rather than firing people who are much needed and play an integral part in dispersing information to the general public,” said secretary-general Themba Masango.
“More than 21 million people in South Africa depend on the SABC for news, entertainment and content. We will be joining the picket lines, joining every forward-thinking organisation that is standing against the blatant bullying (against) the SABC staff.”
The civil rights movement called on Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams to increase her intervention and save jobs at the loss-making state broadcaster.
The government on Wednesday urged the SABC to consider every viable option to save jobs, hours after the troubled public broadcaster was forced to withdraw retrenchment letters following an outcry from workers.
The disgruntled employees had planned a blackout at the SABC after the financially strapped company said it was cutting 400 jobs to try to get onto a more viable trajectory.
The Communication Workers Union has given the SABC board and management until Thursday evening to abandon its plans to retrench hundreds of employees or face a blackout on Friday.
This comes as the union plans to embark on a national strike across branches of the public broadcaster, with the main strike action at its headquarters in Auckland Park, Johannesburg.
African News Agency (ANA)