plan
Mungo Soggot
THE SABC has temporarily frozen plans to drop the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) because the corporation’s actions apparently breach key sections of the new Labour Relations Act.
Radio chief Govin Reddy admitted this week he had erred in his execution of the decision. He confirmed the SABC had not taken legal advice before attempting to fire the 80-person orchestra, which is employed and subsidised by the SABC.
The botched retrenchments come ahead of major cutbacks at the SABC. The corporation said the decision to axe the orchestra was endorsed by leading consultants McKinsey which, for a R6-million fee, is helping the SABC trim its operations. The consultants are understood to have earmarked 500 to 1200 other jobs for the chopping block this year.
Union officials and orchestra members say the announcment to axe the NSO came without warning, constituting a breach of the Labour Relations Act, which demands thorough consultation with employees before they are retrenched. The orchestra has demanded detailed information from the SABC explaining the move.
Anton Meyer, radio park regional chairman for the Broadcasting, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union, accused the SABC of “blatant incompetence”.
He quoted from a note Reddy sent this week to Solly Mokoetle, who previously worked for the African National Congress’s Radio Freedom and is now a senior general manager in charge of strategic planning, which said: “We have run into trouble with the union. Before the consultative process can begin, they require a great deal of information …” It is understood the SABC’s labour department was not consulted on the move.
Paul Rogers, spokesman for the orchestra, says there will be no negotiations until the NSO receives the requested information, which includes details of the corporation’s financial state. The SABC has held fire on its retrenchment letters.
The corporation has agreed to give the orchestra the information it wants, but NSO members fear that once they have the information, and consult, the SABC will simply have another stab at firing them.
Despite the legal bungle, the SABC is sticking to its guns. Orchestra members were notified this week that “we (the SABC) want to stress that no decision has been taken except that which has been announced”. Reddy said it was unlikely the decision would be reversed after negotiations as there was, quite simply, not enough money for the orchestra.
The orchestra has received several offers of free legal advice from top Johannesburg law firms. The union claims unfair dismissal entitles an employee to 12 months’ compensation, which would cost the SABC about R6-million in addition to retrenchment packages. The corporation subsidises the orchestra to the tune of R15-million a year.
Asked whether the orchestra was consulted in the run-up to the decision, Reddy told the Mail & Guardian this week “consultations with unions representing the staff are currently under way”.
The SABC’s decision to stop funding the orchestra is at odds with a June 1994 document it prepared on its role as a public broadcaster. The document, entitled Delivering Value, said: “The SABC believes it should retain interest in the orchestra in order to ensure the viability of the NSO as a national asset.”
Reddy said this week: “Why should the public broadcaster and not the state or private sector fund the NSO?”
He said the cash-strapped organisation had been forced to prioritise and that the future of the NSO had been in doubt for some time.