MEDIA STATEMENT

Johannesburg – Wednesday 11 March 2020 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC Ltd (SABC) is pleased to announce that its radio station Ukhozi fm will finally be revealing the results of its Ingoma Ehlukanisa Unyaka campaign.

On the 31^st of December 2019, the campaign was brought to an abrupt halt by a court interdict through an application brought against the SABC. The court application was subsequently withdrawn in January 2020.

Following the abandoned court application, it was important for Ukhozi fm to honor our trusted brand amongst listeners, by delivering on the promise to announce the results, as has been done for decades.

On Friday the 13^th of March 2020, from 15:00-18:00, the station will be recreating ‘New Year’s Eve, with the actual Top 10 songs, as voted for by listeners and audited by external auditors, being played on a special edition of the afternoon drive show.

This special programme will be hosted by Ukhozi fm presenters Tshatha and Selby, who were the crossover hosts on the 31^st of December 2019. Listeners can look forward to exciting spot giveaways, as the station builds up to the most anticipated announcement of 2020.The winning entry, as voted for by Ukhozi fm listeners will receive R50 000; the runner up will receive R30 000 and the third place recipient will receive R20 000.

The winning artist will also get bragging rights for the rest of the year and the title of having the top song on Ukhozi fm for 2019, will forever be written in Ukhozi fm’s history books.

Listeners can join the conversation and movement on #SihlukanisaKwasani

*FOOTNOTE

Over the years, Ukhozi fm has built a strong following through its annual New Year’s Eve campaign Ingoma Ehlukanisa Unyaka. Every year the majority of South Africans, no matter where in the country or how old they are, stop everything they are doing to tune into Ukhozi fm to find out the crossover song which takes South Africans from one year into the next. This song is preceded by a countdown starting from the number 10 song.

The mechanics of the campaign are as follows:

1. The Top 10 is compiled. These songs are a combination of staff votes; listener nominations and the most played songs from the station play out system;
2. The Top 10 is released on-air and on digital platforms for listeners to vote for their favourite via the station sms line. This is a 2 week process;
3. On the 31^st of December, the Top 10 is played between 11pm and midnight when the winning song is announced.

END

Issued By:                              Group Communications

Media Enquiries:                   Ms. Mmoni Seapolelo SABC Spokesperson (Acting)

seapolelomv@sabc.co.za|T. 011 714 3057|C. 073 688 1590

Johannesburg, Tuesday 10 March 2020 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) refutes the unfounded and defamatory allegations made by its former Chief Operations Officer, Mr Chris Maroleng in his recent interviews on several media platforms and in other reports related to his dismissal.

In the face of this barrage of false and misleading statements, it is necessary for the SABC to remind Mr Maroleng that he was charged after breaching his fiduciary duties as a director, for acting in a manner which breaches good faith, trust, honesty, loyalty and confidence, and for two charges of gross negligence.

Mr Maroleng was subjected to a disciplinary hearing chaired by an independent Chairperson.  At all material times during his disciplinary hearing, Mr Maroleng was represented by a legal team of his choice.  He was found guilty of three (3) charges and not guilty on one (1) charge.  Both the SABC and Mr Maroleng made representations on the appropriate sanction to be imposed to the Chairperson of the disciplinary hearing.

Having considered submissions by both parties, the Chairperson of the disciplinary hearing recommended summary dismissal in respect of each charge Mr Maroleng had been found guilty of.

On 23 April 2019 after due consideration of the detailed findings and clear recommendations of an independent disciplinary process, the SABC Board resolved to terminate Mr Maroleng’s contract of employment with immediate effect.   Following this decision, Mr Maroleng approached the CCMA to challenge his dismissal, but later withdrew his arbitration case.

The SABC followed due process from the outset and Mr Maroleng was at all times treated fairly and afforded all the rights available to him in terms of SABC policies and the law.

Mr. Maroleng’s baseless allegation that members of the SABC Board are to blame for his dismissal rather than his own actions, clearly demonstrates his unwillingness to assume responsibility for his own serious misconduct.

It is important for the public, our employees and all the SABC’s stakeholders to note the findings of the independent Chairperson on the issue of dishonesty:

“Gross dishonesty or dishonesty of whatever form is a serious form of misconduct. It renders the continued employment relationship intolerable…There can be no greater act of dishonesty than what Maroleng did. Ignoring company policies and procedures by an Executive Director is serious misconduct”.

And further that:

“An employment relationship, broken down as a result of an act of dishonesty, can never be restored by whatever amount of mitigation. The underlying reason for this approach is that an employer cannot be expected to keep dishonest workers in his/her employ. The other reason for this is to send an unequivocal message to other employees that dishonesty will not be tolerated. Maroleng’s actions are so serious given his position that it becomes apparent that an employer cannot be expected to keep a dishonest employee in their employ”.

The SABC will accordingly oppose the application brought against the Corporation by Mr. Maroleng.

END

Issued By:                              Group Communications

Media Enquiries:                Ms. Mmoni Seapolelo SABC Spokesperson (Acting) | seapolelomv@sabc.co.za | T. 011 714 3057 |

Johannesburg – Friday, 06 March 2020 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) radio station, Radio 2000, would like to announce the resignation of its breakfast show host, Mr. Majota ‘Phat Joe’ Khambule. Phat Joe joined the breakfast show ‘Phat Joe and the family’ in April 2019.

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in accordance with the approved messages by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and the Department of Health

Johannesburg – Wednesday, 19 February 2020 – SABC Education has launched a campaign to raise awareness and drive public education focusing on the scourge of Femicide and Rape, that continues to haunt our country. Central to the campaign is the reality that on a daily basis, South Africans deal with the horror of rapes and murders that affect primarily, women and the girl child.

Johannesburg- Monday, 10 February 2020 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has been made aware of an article by Inside Politics African Narrative published on 04 February 2020, claiming to have exclusive access to a document titled ‘Repurposing the State Owned Enterprises as Instruments for Economic Growth’.  According to the article the document proposes, amongst other things, that government should privatise SABC3, Metro FM, 5FM and Good Hope FM.

Johannesburg – Tuesday 28 January 2020 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is pleased to announce that the court application by Michael Owen Productions (MOP) against the SABC has been withdrawn by the applicant. The Notice of Withdrawal was delivered to the SABC’s attorneys on the 27^th of January 2020.

Johannesburg – Thursday, 16 January 2020 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has noted a website, which has published misleading information regarding SABC internship programme for the year 2020.

Johannesburg – Friday, 13 December 2019 – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has once again been declared as the most trusted public institution in South Africa according to the 2019 South African Reconciliation Barometer (SARB) survey conducted by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR).