COSATU NW angered by the relocation of the SABC regional office to Gauteng
5 April 2019
The Congress of South African Trade Unions in the North West has learned with dismay that the South African Broadcasting Cooperation has decided to relocate its North West Regional office in Mafikeng to Auckland Park in Gauteng.This is a move which was unnecessary and will have undesirable consequences for the province at an economic level and in the development of the Setswana language and culture.
COSATU feels that this is a way of retrenching workers without invoking Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act. Some workers will struggle to relocate and then will find themselves with no jobs. We want to state the following undisputed facts which are there in the public domain.
1. The Mafikeng town where the regional office is located has minimal economic activities and mostly relies on the public service for the area to survive; so removing one service from that town might lead to the collapse of the town and making it a ghost town.
2. Gauteng remains a net receiver of migrant and congesting services in that area will not assist in controlling migration from it, instead it will worsen the problem. This will create a burden in other services like health, education, transport, water and sanitation and etc.