Broadcasting Services

South Africa: SABC's Senior Executives Take Huge Remuneration Despite Heavy Corporate Losses

A review of the 2019/20 financial report of the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation has revealed that the organisation posted a net loss of ZAR 511 million (US$ 35 million) in the last financial year.
 
In the released statement, the SABC documented some "irregular expenditure" to the tune of  ZAR 202 million (US$ 14 million) and some "wasteful expenditure" up to ZAR 27 million (US$ 1.8 million) in the reporting year.
 
Perhaps the most significant set of figures from the SABC's 2019/20 financial statement, according to industry watchers, is the level of pay and remuneration accorded to the organisation's senior executives; who, as a whole, were paid the total sum of ZAR 42 million (US$ 3 million). The SABC's Group CEO, Madoda Mxakwe, was paid ZAR 5.5 million (US$ 360,000), and the Group CFO, Ms Yolande van Biljon, took ZAR 3.2 million (US$ 210,000) in the reporting period.
 
The financial report and statement also showed that the public broadcaster's revenue in the year was R5.7 billion (US$ 371 million) a 12 per cent drop year-on-year. The company chalked the revenue decline partly to a decrease in advertising spend during the period, as well as a significant decrease in TV Licence payment.