--
South African public broadcaster SABC received a Disclaimer of Opinion from the Auditor General (AG) for its 2012/2013 Annual Report because of issues pertaining to conflicting reporting methodologies, as well as a lack of pre-requisite skills in the broadcaster s financial department.
So said SABC GCEO Lulama Mokhobo at a press conference held at the SABC s offices in Auckland Park, Johannesburg on 12 September.
Due to a lack of training, our finance department experienced challenges in migrating from the GAAP (General Accepted Accounting Practice) reporting methodology to the standard utilised by the AG, the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), explained Mokhobo.
Responding to reports in the media which stated that the SABC had spent an amount of R1.5bn without any supporting documentation and that this amount had been spent on consultants, Mokhobo stated that R408m of this amount was spent on broadcast costs; R514m on signal distribution; R123m on marketing; R63m on consultancy services; and R79m on personnel costs.
She continued: The SABC was unable to provide some journals from a sample requested by the AG to substantiate adjustments to these categories of expenditure. However, it is incorrect to surmise that all the supporting documents such as invoices, tender documents and bank payments could not be provided. The issue was that the SABC, being a huge operation with provincial offices, did not have adequate time to collate the journals.
Prior to Mokhobo s presentation, chairperson of the SABC s interim board, Zandile Tshabalala commented: We are neither happy nor proud about the SABC s results for the 2012 financial year.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago noted that in all the negative press generated by the release of the Annual Report a day earlier, no-one had mentioned that the SABC had, in fact, posted a profit after tax of R330m for the year.
Mokhobo presented a detailed account of the environment in which the SABC had operated in the last few years so as to provide a context for the 2012/2013 financials.
The period under review (April 2012 to March 2013) was an extremely difficult one for the SABC. Many reports in the media referred to ructions at executive and board level. Some board members resigned mid-way through the period and then in February this year the board was dissolved. This board came into office at a point when last year s financial results were being audited and thus the board inherited massive challenges. Our skills audit revealed that the fact that we had so many executives in the acting position was due to limited skills in many departments, including the financial department.
However, we re not going to excuse our bad results acting chief financial officer Tian Olivier and his team did the best they could. Also, it s important to remember that we were operating under very strict austerity measures.
Mokhobo stressed that the government guarantee of just over R1.4bn, granted to the SABC in 2009, was not a bail out. This loan was guaranteed by government so that should the SABC fail to repay the loan, the government would stand surety. The SABC in fact only took R1bn of this amount and by the end of this September, we will have repaid the loan. Requirements attached to this loan were very stringent.
Part of our strategy at this time was not to replace people when they left the SABC. We decided not to retrench people and tried to find other ways of saving money. Those who left the SABC were on a fixed term contract. So through this natural attrition we had many competent people leaving the SABC. Consequently, we had to rely on staff members to fill these positions, without sufficient training. There were also lots of questions re how we are spending money on marketing and yes, investment in local content was reduced.
All the above are reasons why we got the Annual Report results that we did it was due to the stark conditions in which we were forced to operate.
According to Mokhobo, in recognising these issues under the current interim board, SABC management instituted executives into the vacant posts and put them on training courses. The broadcaster has also instituted an Operation Clean Audit Process, headed by James Muguma who previously worked for the AG.
Despite the challenges we face, the SABC is continuing to deliver its mandate in an increasingly competitive environment, both in the television and radio sectors. If we hadn t had to repay our government guaranteed loan, we would have posted a profit much bigger than the R330m we did post. Admittedly the R330m was R14m less than the previous year, commented Mokhobo.
She noted that following the economic boom of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the SABC experienced a severe dip in ad spend due to the worldwide recession. There was also a dramatic decline in audiences.
A further setback was last year discovering that the audience measurement methodology employed by the South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) was flawed, thus adversely weighting SABC ratings, which in turn affected our advertising revenue. Because of this reduction in ad spend we could not meet our government guarantee targets, stated Mokhobo.
Responding to reports in the media that an amount of R913m in licence fees had not been collected in the past financial year, Mokhobo said: This is completely untrue the licence fees have been delivered. The issue around this is due to the fact that the AG was of the opinion that licence fees should be reported on an accrual basis rather than a cash collection basis.
There are 14 million TV licence households in South Africa. Historically the SABC has always used cash-collection reporting as you never know which of the licence holders will actually pay their fees each year. This method of reporting has been a point of deba
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
-- 
