Marian Shinn. Image courtesy of the DA.
More than ZAR30 million (US$3 million) has been spent on corruption investigations and staff dismissal disputes at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) since 2009.
The details were released after the Democratic Alliance’s shadow minister for communications Marian Shinn submitted her latest set of parliamentary questions.
Shinn told HumanIPO last week she believed the SABC was “decades old problem” and there was no quick fix for the public broadcaster, while new communications minister Yunus Carrim has made cleaning up the SABC one of his priorities during his short term in office.
After publishing the latest figures concerning corruption investigations and staff dismissal costs, Shinn said: “It is imperative that the publicly funded, SABC does not continue to leak funds due to corruption.
“The new Minister must ensure that all new staff, especially top management are properly qualified, vetted against corrupt activities and are experienced for the task at hand.”
ZAR19.5 million (US$1.9 million) was paid by the SABC to the Special Investigations Unit in 2009 when the auditor-general commissioned a special investigation, while a further ZAR10.8 million (US$1 million) was spent on legal fees to resolve dismissal disputes.
The figures also showed that of the 1,465 employees who had been found guilty of not declaring their interests properly, disciplinary action had only been taken against 300 of them.
Of 14 cases that have been reported to the South African Police Service (SAPS), only one had been concluded.
