By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has fired its Chief Operating Officer (COO) Ian Plaatjes and head of video entertainment Merlin Naicker.
This follows their failure to disclose a 7.5% profit-share deal with Discover Digital that runs the broadcaster’s SABC+ video streaming service.
“The board has duly considered the findings and recommendations of the report by an independent chairperson and decided to release Ian Plaatjies from his duties as the SABC’s COO with immediate effect. The SABC can also confirm that the group executive for video entertainment, Merlin Naicker, is also released from his duties with immediate effect after a disciplinary hearing,” acting SABC executive for corporate affairs and marketing Mmoni Seapolelo said.
Seapolelo said the SABC was not disclosing the date on which this happened or any other information regarding the development.
Plaatjies and Naicker were suspended in February at the same time that head of advertising sales Reginald Nxumalo resigned.
The suspensions were on legal advice from Werksmans law firm. They recommended this after an internal audit by the SABC of the secret profit-sharing deal came to the conclusion that the three executives had failed to act in the SABC’s best financial interests.
Werksmans said Plaatjies, Naicker and Nxumalo had deliberately concealed crucial information of the 7.5% profit-share agreement from the SABC’s executive committee during their presentation of the deal, before it was signed, and also misled the committee when they said the public broadcaster would get 100% of the advertising revenue made through SABC+.
Werkmans found a prima facie case for gross dishonesty against all three.
The SABC has a R35m contract with Discovery Digital, renewable for five years, to run SABC+ as its over-the-top (OTT) video streaming service.
According to Werkmans, the SABC business plan for SABC+ that was presented to the SABC’s executive committee members during a meeting on November 7 2022, stipulated that the SABC would get 100% of the revenue generated by SABC+. The SABC was projected to initially make between R100m and R200m with SABC+.