Peta Thornycroft
RADIO station SAfm’s embattled manager Charlene Smith has been told by SABC radio head Govin Reddy to resign on grounds of ill health.
Reddy told Smith on February 13 that he would pay her to the end of the month if she resigned “gracefully but immediately”.
Smith, hired by SAfm only five months ago, has reportedly asked for six months’ severence pay, but the SABC has turned her down.
She is currently on sick leave, and earlier this month spent time in hospital for heart problems. She faces a disciplinary hearing next month, because of complaints from SAfm managers. It will be her second hearing.
Reddy confirmed that he had discussed Smith’s situation with her, and that his “personal advice” had been that she go quietly rather than face a bruising public fight
The row over Smith’s management style has come at a time of turmoil at SAfm, and amid increasing speculation about the future of the station. The long-struggling station lost 50% of its advertising revenue – R6- million – last year and faces drastic cutbacks.
Several key players attended a strategy meeting on Wednesday to discuss options for SAfm. One suggestion was to close the station immediately.
Another suggestion under discussion, as reported in the M&G last month, is for the station to shed its music, drama and magazine programmes and to refocus on news and sport in metropolitan areas.
Smith’s lawyers have advised her not to speak to the press until she reaches agreement with the SABC over her severance deal.
Smith’s troubles at SAfm began shortly after she joined the station last October. Her first opponent was Tony Lankester, a novice section manager who had been recruited by SAfm’s outgoing head Jack Mullen and who had unsuccessfully applied for his job, which went to Smith.
Lankester clashed with Smith repeatedly, in one instance after she accused him of abusing his position by paying a freelancer R7 000, while the woman, then Lankester’s girlfriend, was in Britain for the death of her father. The woman, a broadcaster, was hired on a contract basis, and according to Smith was not entitled to paid leave.
Lankester confirmed that he has been an opponent of Smith. He would not comment on the row. “I am not allowed to talk to the press about this, but there is nothing personal.”
Smith, a respected journalist and public relations officer for Thebe Investments, appears to have made enemies throughout SAFm, though no one would criticise her on the record.
But even her supporters believe she has little choice but to go, in part because of the public nature of the row.
Mike Ford, head of SAfm’s advertising department and acting manager, confirmed he had signed a statement criticising her. “I think her style of managing people has not been successful,” he said.
“Damage has been inflicted on both sides, and I don’t think there could be any reconciliation now. I do concede the matter, as it has played out in the press, has not been fair to Charlene.”
SAfm manager for development and resources, Caleb Thondlana, said: “She is a victim of a profoundly grander scale of mismanagement and inconsistencies at the SABC. But she survived longer than some.”
Smith’s supporters at the station say she “rocked the boat” by exposing what appeared to be irregular payment to some managers who were also being paid for “freelance” work.