A London office, standing empty for two years, is hardly a luxury the SABC can afford, writes Marion Edmunds
THE South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is paying 216 000 annually – more than R1,7-million at the current exchange rate – for its broadcasting office in London, half of which has been standing empty for about two years.
This at a time when the SABC is dogged with controversy regarding the state of its coffers. It has appealed several times to the Minister of Post, Telecommunications and Broadcasting, Jay Naidoo, for funds from the state Budget in an effort to balance the corporation’s books.
It is also at a time when radio current affairs programmes have been ordered to cut down on live reports from international correspondents in order to save money.
An SABC official in the finance department confirmed this week that the London office was renovated about two years ago to make place for six more radio reporters.
However, the reporters – who were meant to file for SABC radio in six indigenous languages – never arrived as the plan, dreamed up in Johannesburg, was squashed on the grounds that “it would be too expensive”.
But the change of mind came too late as desks and equipment for the six were already placed in the renovated premises and had to be paid for. Furthermore, the SABC was paying extra rent for the reporters’ accommodation in one of the prime sites in London, just off Oxford Street.
Currently only TV reporter Conrad Burke and a lone cameraman are using the large offices, which used to be the haunt of former SABC television editor Cliff Saunders.
Burke said this week that his operation was “mean and lean” in contrast to the Saunders regime and referred questions about rent to the SABC head office in Johannesburg.
The SABC`s media department denied this week that accommodation for radio staffers existed in London, and quoted SABC Radio News editor Barney Mthombothi as saying that there had never been a plan to send radio reporters to London.
However, a number of SABC and other journalists the Mail & Guardian spoke to refuted this and have commented on how large and extravagant the premises in London are.
Burke said that the SABC was busy reviewing its resources and that the cost- effectiveness of the office would come under review. “I don’t think that these offices should be closed down, because once you have closed down an operation like this, it is very difficult to start it up again,” he said.