The Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Allied Workers' Union (Bemawu) has castigated the SABC after revelations that it paid R246 000 to send a non-employee to London.
“Since when do outsiders travel on SABC expenses, introduce themselves at news conferences as the acting head of human capital services and strategy and appoint people and sign contracts on behalf of the SABC?” Bemawu president Hannes du Buisson asked on Wednesday.
According to media reports, SABC board chairman Ben Ngubane told Parliament on Tuesday that Justice Ndaba was not an employee of the public broadcaster, but merely a consultant.
The SABC reportedly paid R246 000 to send Ndaba to London to attend a leadership course, which he never completed. This was after a dispute with prostitutes, The Times newspaper reported. The SABC had since demanded that Ndaba repay the money.
According to The Times and The Sowetan newspapers, the chairman of Parliament's portfolio committee on communications, Eric Kholwane, criticised the SABC after hearing Ndaba was not an employee.
Kholwane has demanded the public broadcaster provide a full report on how Ndaba came to be in business with the SABC.
Du Buisson said: “By stating publicly Mr Ndaba is an outsider opens a completely new can of worms in terms of corporate governance, oversight, wrong procedures, etc. Is it time for another Auditor General investigation? Maybe to determine who is who in the zoo?” – Sapa