A skills audit conducted by PriceWaterhouseCooper has revealed that the South
African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is suffering from a major skills and
training deficit among its upper echelon management and in its broadcast
technology department.
The auditors sampled 842 job titles and reported that 577 of these were
occupied by people who held qualifications that were either “not authentic’,
“incomplete’ or awarded by institutions that no longer exist.
The report was presented in parliament on Tuesday to the communications
portfolio committee, by Human Capital Services group executive Jabu Mabaso,
and revealed some worrying statistics. The findings of the audit indicate that
60% of people in executive positions do not meet the minimum requirements for
strategic thinking at an executive level. It also states that 56% lacked
competence in problem solving and decision making, and that 35% “showed
disregard’ for financial information.
In the face of this information, acting chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng
was quoted by The Times as saying that the public broadcaster was doing well
and that the right management team was in place.
The presentation of the report followed on the heels of the resignation of the
SABC’s Group CEO, Lulama Mokhobo. In an interview with TechCentral, Mokhobo
insisted that the findings of the report did not influence her decision to quit her
post. The audit, she said in the interview, enabled the SABC to determine
“exactly who we had and we implemented training programmes … and the
understanding of how to run a business efficiently and effectively is so much
higher now. There is lots of training and development happening on the job.’
These structural problems are only some of the issues facing the public
broadcaster, which also contends with a constantly changing board and senior
management, accusations of political manipulation and abuse of power, no
permanent chief financial officer, a lack of public confidence and questions as to
whether it has the ability to carry out its digital migration objectives.
