The Scorpions police unit and accountants Deloitte and Touche are conducting separate probes into alleged corruption, maladministration and fraud at the SABC, the City Press newspaper reported.
The allegations were made in a document drafted by independent producer Joyce Ndamase, which SABC management confirmed they had received.
The document was handed to the internal forensic audit department, and Deloitte and Touche and a team of specialised criminal attorneys were called in to assist in investigating the allegations. The document was later sent to the Scorpions.
Ndamase alleges, among other things, that the public broadcaster’s commissioning procedures are riddled with corruption, that kickbacks are an open secret and that black-owned companies are sidelined when programmes are commissioned.
She names production companies and SABC executives allegedly involved in corruption. Scorpions representative Sipho Ngwema said the unit was still investigating.
The SABC told the City Press it was reviewing the current commissioning procedures and new ones would be in place by the end of the year.
An SABC representative said that in the last fiscal year, the broadcaster awarded R390-million to independent producers, of which 60% went to black empowerment companies and companies with black shareholders.
The investigation is expected to be completed this month and then the reports will be submitted to the SABC board, to parliament and Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. – Sapa