Big SABC fight over “nefarious” sacking

Former South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief operating officer (COO) Ian Plaatjes says the broadcaster fabricated the charges brought against him that led to his dismissal.

Plaatjes says he and former SABC group executive for video entertainment Merlin Naicker were unfairly dismissed earlier this year.

He will present his case before the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA) to vindicate his conduct at the public broadcaster.

The SABC found the pair guilty of withholding information about an advertising revenue-sharing agreement with Discover Digital, which runs SABC+ on the public broadcaster’s behalf.

“I have full confidence that the CCMA process will vindicate my conduct while employed as Chief Operations Officer by the SABC,” Plaatjes said in a statement.

Plaatjes said he believes the CCMA will overturn the findings of the disciplinary hearing, and show that the charges brought against me were fabricated by the employer.

He added that he believes the charges against him were motivated by nefarious objectives.

The CCMA hearing will be online, and Plaatjes says it will allow the public to learn the truth about “why the SABC wanted to get rid of executives, including myself”.

The former COO revealed there had been in-fighting between him and former CEO Madoda Mxakwe. He alleged Mxakwe conducted several “unlawful forensic investigations” against him.

As a result, Plaatjes filed grievance charges against Mxakwe regarding the investigations.

“The grievance which I had initiated against Madoda Mxakwe in 2023 was never properly finalised or communicated to me,” he added.

“It points to the motivation for the fabricated charges which were brought against only Merlin Naicker and me and which directly resulted in our dismissal.”

In feedback to Thinus Ferreira, SABC spokesperson Mmoni Seapolelo confirmed that the matter is before the CCMA.

It said it would wait for the CCMA process to run its course and for the commission to make an appropriate finding before commenting further on the matter.

Plaatjes says he is confident that the CCMA process will clear him of any wrongdoing.

“Merlin Naicker and I had sought agreement with the SABC on two occasions for the disciplinary hearing to be open to the media, as we have nothing to hide, and we believe that it is in the public’s interest to have access to the facts of the matter,” he said.

The issues stem from claims that Plaatjes failed to disclose a 7.5% share of the advertising revenue that would be garnered from the SABC+ business plan.

The CCMA process will address whether or not Plaatjes disclosed the share.

“The costs were transparent and known to all SABC Exco members prior to the Exco approval of the business plan on 10 October 2022, and the revised business plan on 7 November 2022,” says Plaatjes.

“The 7.5% cost was also contained to the cost of the digital advert that was replaced and not the total cost of the revenue generated from SABC+.”

Among the executive committee members was Lungile Binza, former SABC head of technology and currently acting COO.

Plaatjes says that, for the duration of the Discovery Digital agreement, which ended in November 2023, Castoola software was never used. Therefore, no costs were incurred or paid to Discover Digital regarding the 7.5% clause.

Discover Digital also previously told MyBroadband that it never billed for or received funds from the SABC pursuant to the revenue share clause.

“The SABC’s charges against me are therefore not based on any facts and the reality of what occurred, but a fabricated scenario which never occurred,” he said.

Plaatjes adds that the disciplinary hearing against him and Naicker came at a time when the public broadcaster was technically bankrupt.

“The taxpayer cannot foot the bill for the SABC’s wasteful decisions with hidden agendas,” he said.