Riyaz Patel
Embattled public broadcaster SABC is to receive R2.1bn Monday 7 October as part of an initial tranche of a R3.2bn bailout from the government.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced the funding allocation in February from a reserve fund pool but attached preconditions.
The remaining R1.1bn rand will be transferred to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) once the public broadcaster fully meets the remaining three outstanding conditions or firmly demonstrates evidence to fully comply, Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said Friday.
“The SABC submitted an updated response to the set preconditions on 30 August 2019. These were jointly assessed by National Treasury and the Department of Communication, revealing that out of the eight preconditions, the SABC has fully met five, partially met two, and one wasn’t met.”
“The Department of Communications will further continue engaging with National Treasury to source funding through the normal medium-term expenditure framework processes,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said.
The SABC needs R6.8bn for its turnaround strategy, the minister confirmed.
Her department will follow normal processes to request the rest, but the R3.2bn injection by Treasury is part of an “immediate intervention,” said Ndabeni-Abrahams.
The public broadcaster said this week it had met government’s pre-conditions for the bailout.
The SABC also announced that Ian Plaatjes has been appointed Chief Operations Officer and will take office on 1 November.
