The SABC has blamed losses in the past financial year on events of national interest that were not budgeted for.<\/p>\n
These were events that did not generate financial returns, the public broadcaster told Parliament\u2019s communications committee on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Communications Minister Faith Muthambi was supposed to have led the presentation, but she had an engagement in Soshanguve, MPs heard. Deputy Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams was present.<\/p>\n
SABC acting CEO James Aguma said elections were part of the reason for the loss.<\/p>\n
“For elections, we asked for funding of R32 million. We got zero, and we funded it out of our reserves. So these factors are what led to a drop in cash,” he said.<\/p>\n
For the 2015\/16 financial year, the SABC reported a loss of R411 million, and had R881 million in cash.<\/p>\n
Aguma encouraged the committee to look at the positive, rather than the negative. He said their assets at the end of the year outweighed revenue.<\/p>\n
Other events of national interests included funerals of prominent South Africans, which were not budgeted for. Investment in broadcasting sports events also yielded negative returns, he said.<\/p>\n
‘SABC not a normal broadcaster’<\/strong><\/p>\n However, the social returns of these events could not be calculated in numbers, Aguma told the committee.<\/p>\n The global economic slowdown had also affected the broadcaster. The “exorbitant cost of sports rights, cost of employment and net income tax payment” led to a decrease in cash flow from R1bn in 2015, to R881m in 2016.<\/p>\n If the SABC was judged economically, it had made a loss, he said. But the social returns, he insisted, were “immeasurable”.<\/p>\n For example, for a sports event like the Comrades Marathon, they had to send 80 staff members to ensure it was broadcast in all official languages.<\/p>\n News cost the SABC R876 million, sports rights R573 million, and production costs amounted to R187 million.<\/p>\n Aguma encouraged the committee to look at the loss in context.<\/p>\n “The SABC is not a normal broadcaster. It\u2019s got to balance developmental needs and also in certain cases make sure that these needs are funded.<\/p>\n “Making services available in all official languages, at times we need to be judged or understood in that context.”<\/p>\n