Jacquie Golding-Duffy
GLOOM and doom is the prevailing mood among staffers drifting along the corridors of the SABC headquarters in Auckland Park.
“The only glimmer of good cheer is the presence of the Hare Krishnas who, aside from American consultants McKinsey, are the only group to be coining it,” chuckled one staffer.
Within days of the McKinsey report being released it is believed that the SABC canteen closed. The salvation for late- night staffers devoid of caffeine came in the form of Hare Krishna veggie burgers.
After the frenzy which has gripped the corporation following the initial announcement of cutbacks, staffers are voicing their resentment by plastering graffiti over management notices, blaming the new order for the imminent mass retrenchments. Almost every wall is decorated with petitions from unions and non-unionised groups demanding answers from management.
Their demands range from wanting to know about mismanagement and corruption to details on how staffers will be compensated when they are shown the door.
Speculation is rife on retrenchment packages with some staffers drawing up five potential package options they could live with.
Everyone seems to scurrying from one meeting to another, from one workshop to the next – all busy working on a plan of action ranging from calling in the president to hauling in the Independent Broadcasting Authority.
“It’s hostile,” says one staffer, while another moans that it’s “depressing”.
Why? “We are all uncertain about our future. Which jobs are going, which people are being booted out and which programmes are being shut down, are all up in the air.”
The only thing for certain at the public broadcaster these days seems to be that their future, and that of public service broadcasting, is uncertain.