JOHANNESBURG - The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on Monday, sent a notification to staff informing them of the public broadcaster's intention to proceed with Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA).
The process was initially halted after a joint consensus-seeking meeting on October 12, with organised labour.
"At this meeting it was agreed that the LRA’s Section 189 notice will be put in abeyance until further details as requested by organized labour, were made available. The meeting also agreed to the appointment of a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) facilitator who will foresee the consultation process," the SABC said in a statement.
"It is envisaged that all employees and at all levels in the SABC will be affected by the restructuring.... At this stage, and should retrenchments be necessary, it is envisaged that 981 employees may possibly be retrenched as a result of the restructuring, across all the aforesaid business units and operations of the SABC. Out of the 2400 freelancers, 1200 will be affected."
The SABC said all employees, including the group services, provincial operations, commercial enterprises, media technology and infrastructure, news, radio, sport and television would be affected.
"This exercise should result in a cost saving of approximately R440 Million per annum, even at this preliminary stage. This amount excludes the projected cost savings from the planned reduction of freelancers."
The SABC said it was committed to complying with all the legal requirements and would ensure that employees were kept informed of all the developments throughout the Section 189 process.