SABC staff desperate to get out of CWU - Vavi

14 July 2016

Johannesburg - SABC employees are desperate to leave the Communication Workers Union (CWU), former Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said on Wednesday.

He had received calls from SABC employees wanting to meet with him, he told a meeting with the SOS Coalition and Right2Know campaign.

There was fear at the SABC and unions representing staff were fragmented.

“CWU is the majority union and it has been captured and domesticated. I hear from SABC employees they are extremely unhappy and want to move out.”

However, CWU president Clyde Mervin said they had a meeting with workers on Tuesday to address issues.

"We are an independent union, so we are not captured by anyone. We met with workers yesterday and they have raised their frustrations about censorship and they have never shown us that they are unhappy with the union," he said.

“If workers are unhappy, they know what to do. But we will never allow employees, especially the news reporters, to be victimised by the SABC.”

The ANC Youth League was expected to join the CWU at a picket outside the SABC’s offices in Durban on Thursday, in support of SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) ruled on Monday that the SABC must withdraw its decision to no longer show footage of the destruction of property. It was given seven days to comply.

Motsoeneng said he and his management would challenge the decision in court.

"No one is going to tell us what to do," he said on Monday.

Icasa spokesperson Paseka Maleka said on Tuesday that they would wait until the SABC had submitted its written reply before commenting.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.