Ferial Haffajee
THE SABC’s head of radio, Govin Reddy, is set to be appointed as deputy chief executive of the corporation, making him second only to the chief executive, Zwelakhe Sisulu.
The move is part of a wide-ranging management shake-up at the SABC which burst into the open this week with a spate of senior resignations and dismissals.
The resignation of Joe Thloloe, SABC-TV editor-in-chief of news, the imminent departure of the TV chief executive, Jill Chisholm, and the firing of TV chief executive producer Jeremy Thorpe, clear the way for new blood to be brought in.
It has been suggested that the head of SABC1’s Molefe Mokgatle, will take over from Chisholm while a member of the SABC board, Allister Sparks, will replace Thloloe. If so, Sparks is likely to resign as a board member.
Thorpe’s crucial role in charge of all bulletins every night could go to Phil Molefe, who now serves as the political editor of television news.
Reddy is seen to have made great strides in making changes to radio which seeped deeper than those at television.
And despite the debacle over the remaking of the old Radio South Africa as SAfm, he has surfed the storm to win great favour with Sisulu. That is why Reddy is now being tipped for the number two position with control over both radio and television.
The SABC’s management will seek approval for the new appointments as soon as Wednesday, when the corporation’s board meets.
The changes come on top of staff retrenchments which have already begun in an effort to slim down the corporation to its targeted complement.
Morale at the SABC plummeted like the weather this week as staff fumbled with the largely unexpected leadership changes. The vacuum comes at a time when confident and secure leadership is needed most as tough programme changes and staff cuts begin in line with the McKinsey consultancy’s recommendations.
The most acrimonious parting of the ways has been with Thloloe, who this week resigned from the SABC citing “irreconcilable differences” with Sisulu. Thloloe quit after a telephone call from Sisulu telling him that Sparks would be brought in above him and offering him the post of “senior operating officer” instead.
The two go back a long way: they worked together at the Sowetan and formed the Media Workers Association of South Africa, but now barely speak to each other.
It is understood that Thloloe is taking legal advice about the possibility of suing the SABC for constructive dismissal.
The word is that Sisulu has been disappointed by Thloloe’s failure to make television news and current affairs into the showcase product he was looking for. Instead, Sisulu faced ongoing complaints at monthly board meetings for what was perceived as a shoddy news product; the last straw apparently came when he was hauled over the coals for television’s coverage of the South African-led Zairean peace talks aboard the SAS Outeniqua.
Technology and skill deficiencies meant that South African audiences had to watch BBC reports of talks aboard a local navy ship and led by this country’s shuttle diplomats. “I can never forgive them for that,” said a senior SABC manager this week.
But those close to Thloloe say he has been made a scapegoat for Sisulu’s inefficient management of the corporation. They point out that Thloloe was never given a contract of employment, and neither were performance goals set for him, despite numerous requests for these from Sisulu.
It is known that Sisulu did not meet regularly with Thloloe, despite the fact that the news chief held the most crucial and influential portfolio at the SABC. He also apparently never once approached Thloloe directly to voice his concerns about the standards of news and current affairs.
Sisulu was also angered when Thloloe made himself available earlier this year for interviews for the editorship of the Mail & Guardian. Meanwhile, in January, Sisulu accepted Chisholm’s decision not to renew her two-year contract which expires at the end of June. Neither tried to persuade the other to change their minds.
Although very close when Chisholm was first appointed, relations between the two are said to have become strained when the grand relaunch of television yielded a great deal of bad publicity.
Chisholm is this country’s most highly qualified television executive, but she has become the focal point of great bitterness for the tough actions which must now be taken.
Many think she should have made the changes before the relaunch of SABC-TV. Now the McKinsey report has recommended another set of sweeping changes at television, all of which have seen greater uncertainty about programming and staffing.
These changes include the axing of many television programmes, the end of the breakfast programme, Good Morning South Africa, and other examples.
There was “great jubilation” over her leaving, said another staff member who requested anonymity because an SABC regulation can lead to the axing of staff members who are quoted in the press. From more than one staff source comes the accusation that Chisholm is “autocratic”.
Interviewed in her office this week, Chisholm did not seem surprised by the charges. One of the reasons, she says, for not renewing her contract has been the “concentrated hostility both from within and outside the corporation about the SABC” – and, one can assume, about her.
Her decision to leave was made in December during long, thoughtful walks on the beach. The job “has been one of the most demanding things I’ve done; it’s been very tiring,” says Chisholm, who will act as a consultant to SABC-TV if required.
Though some staff in the studios may disagree, Chisholm’s reign has borne fruit.
Like Thloloe, she counts her biggest success as smashing apartheid television: he integrated the work of black and white journalists, and she relaunched the three television channels which were previously divided along racial lines.
“It’s been an absolute revolution, though not a perfect revolution. We’ve introduced segregated audiences to a normal TV service,” she says, adding that television audiences have grown and advertising revenue has improved, although not by the amounts the corporation had hoped.
Meanwhile, staff lower down the ranks this week threatened a petition protesting against Thorpe’s axing. “Staff feel very kak about it,” said a journalist. Thorpe’s exacting standards did not endear him to everyone and he is said to be politically conservative; but others feel that his knowledge of the intricacies of television should not have been lost.
There is another reason for the changes. Sisulu and the top management of the SABC have come under fire from the government for the news content of television, a more powerful and influential instrument than newspapers or radio. Many, both in government and in the SABC, perceive an active anti-African National Congress stance from the news department.
Sparks, who will control news and current affairs, is closer to the ruling party than Thloloe was. Sparks was nominated for the ANC’s parliamentary list in the 1994 elections but declined to stand.