3 SABC journalists take suspension fight to ConCourt

27 June 2016

Johannesburg – Three SABC employees who were served with suspension letters for allegedly contravening an order by the public broadcaster not to cover protest actions are taking the broadcaster and its COO, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, to court.

Economics editor Thandeka Gqubule, RSG executive producer Foeta Krige and Afrikaans news producer Suna Venter were served with the papers stating that they were suspended indefinitely on Thursday.

News24 understands that trio has considered taking their fight to the Constitutional Court, which is the highest court in the land.

No reason was stated for their suspension. However, it was understood that all three had voiced their concern and disagreement over not covering a Right2Know (R2K) protest which took place outside the SABC building last week.

A source who spoke to the Star on Sunday said: "They believe the decision of the SABC goes against a constitutionally-guaranteed public right to be informed and that it erodes journalists' rights to be employed elsewhere if they leave the public broadcaster."

SABC journalists 'increasingly concerned'

On Monday, a letter purportedly written by three other SABC news journalists to Motsoeneng over recent decisions at the public broadcaster was doing the rounds on social media.

It came after the resignation of acting CEO Jimi Matthews.

Matthews announced his resignation as acting group CEO, saying he had compromised his values as a journalist following various changes at the SABC.

In a letter being shared on Twitter, Executive Producer (EP) of Special Assignment Busisiwe Ntuli, EP of Current Affairs, Krivani Pillay and investigative reporter Jacques Steenkamp expressed their "increasing concern" about the changes in the SABC newsroom.

The broadcaster has faced increasing criticism following Motsoeneng's decision last month not to show footage of violent protests.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.