FORGET Barry Tannenbaum the biggest Ponzi scheme in South Africa is being run by the SABC.<\/p>\n
Having blown what is a protected monopoly and run up debts of R800-million at the last estimate, those geniuses in Auckland Park now want a surcharge on all TVs and DVDs sold.<\/p>\n
A year before the 2010 World Cup, for which it is the official broadcaster, it has dug itself into such a hole that it seems the R2-billion government bail-out it is asking for is now necessary to spare the country massive embarrassment.<\/p>\n
While board members took first-class trips to the Caribbean for the Cricket World Cup in 2007, and the chief executive Dali Mpofu and the board wasted millions in taxpayers money on lawyers\u2019 fees, the SABC has effectively been stealing from its local suppliers.<\/p>\n
There are countless heart-breaking stories of small independent producers facing financial ruin because the SABC can\u2019t pay them \u2014 or won\u2019t. Some have told me how they\u2019ve remortgaged their own houses, others are in millions of rands worth of debt. All have bona fide contracts with a state-funded company that can\u2019t get it together to pay its bills. Now the SABC wants more taxpayers\u2019 money. Madness.<\/p>\n
Former SABC chairman Kanyi Mkonza admitted this week that she \u201csucks as a leader\u201d, but she isn\u2019t the only one.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no better at several other state-owned institutions. Eskom is trying to get the consumer to foot its bill for upgrades while its executives took performance bonuses. South African Airways is routinely caught napping when the currency or fuel costs fluctuate and the less we say about Telkom\u2019s grasp of reality, the better.<\/p>\n
Of course, Telkom is part of my beat, so as much as I\u2019d like not to go over it, here are a few key pointers from its results announcement to the end of March.<\/p>\n
In short, it is in trouble. What is it doing about it? It\u2019s hard to tell, but I\u2019m sure it will also deliver executive performance bonuses.<\/p>\n
Arthur Goldstuck, a fearless former journalist and now the managing director of researchers World Wide Worx, embarrassed a few media outlets with his quick Twittering of some key figures from Telkom\u2019s results.<\/p>\n
Remember, Telkom\u2019s main source of revenue is voice calls, so the fact that its phone subscriptions have dropped another 1.8 percent (now down to 4451000) means it has less subscribers than when it was first granted its five-year monopoly ending in 2002.<\/p>\n
Telkom\u2019s ADSL subscriber base is up 33 percent to 548015 users. In case you don\u2019t know, the largest broadband service provider in the country is Vodacom.
\nSo, in the age of broadband, a technology which took off at least 10 years ago in the rest of the world, the telecom with a monopoly in Africa\u2019s most advanced financial hub has barely more than half a million subscribers.
\nShame on it!<\/p>\n
Did Telkom use last week\u2019s announcement to make widespread changes in preparation for Seacom\u2019s imminent switch on? Oh yes, while citizens starve for bandwidth and profit plummets, it increased ADSL bandwidth caps for the two gigabyte (GB) and 3GB offerings to 3GB and 5GB. I kid you not.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d love to tell you about Telkom\u2019s plans first hand. However, when I called Telkom last week to ask about something else, I mentioned to their spokesperson that it no longer communicates with me, nor invites me to briefings, except for the occasional press release about something to do with a union dispute.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you implying that because of a customer-service issue, we no longer deal with you as a journalist?\u201d he asked, when I told him I\u2019d been sent to Coventry since I\u2019d complained in this column about my ADSL problems. \u201cI\u2019m not implying it at all,\u201d I replied. \u201cI\u2019m saying it straight out.\u201d Oh, and it has stopped advertising in my magazine too.<\/p>\n
Our telecoms future, like it or not, is still very much in Telkom\u2019s hands. Frankly, we\u2019d probably be better off with Tannenbaum in charge.<\/p>\n