Lotus FM Saga Part 1

It reads like a story book!

This is what Mandla Soko and Thami Ntenteni are hiding from us. This is the cover-up from Senior and Top Management who are supposed to act in terms of the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) and who are supposed to upheld Good Corporate Governance in terms of the King I and II recommendations. Certain names have been deleted for the moment to protect the individuals.

Samuels pleaded guilty at her disciplinary hearing and she only received a warning. What message are we sending to employees? The public must now pay more license fees to pay for these kind of fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Has the money been recovered from Samuels, as is mandatory per the PFMA?

Scroll down to the last mail and start reading there first.

_____________________________________________

From: Strini Naicker
Sent: 23 December 2008 01:29 PM
To: xxxxxxxxx; Werner Steyn; Ruben Naiker
Cc: Santosh Beharie; xxxxxx; xxxxxx
Subject: RE: AIR TIME CONCERNS - PART 1

Hi,

Is someone out of their mind giving away all this free airtime. Werner, please investigate ASAP. This is compromising airtime revenue as other clients are receiving exposure.

Strini Naicker
Acting Group Executive
SABC Commercial Enterprises
Tel. : 011-7147396
Fax. : 011-7147167
Cell : 0827764869

---

From: xxxxxxxx
Sent: 23 December 2008 01:23 PM
To: Strini Naicker
Cc: Santosh Beharie; xxxxxxxx; xxxxxxxxx
Subject: AIR TIME CONCERNS - PART 1

Hi Strini,

Re : Airtime concerns : Premier Attractions.


Premier attractions engaged with a trade exchange with Lotus fm for a new years eve party at the ICC on the 31st December 2008 as part of celebrating 25 years of broadcasting. Attached, is the trade exchange document that includes elements that Lotus will receive with regards to the trade agreement which is valued at R93,470 (excl. vat). The document was approved on 28th of November and was actioned by SABC Commercial Enterprises on the 29th of December 2008 whereby the value of airtime of R93,470 was scheduled by Wanele's department.

After investigating the airtime attached to the New years eve party, the following is scheduled directly by the station which is over and above the trade exchange (the information is supplied to best of my knowledge obtained from Station) is as follows :

1. Promos 28/11-26/12 R153,120
2. Promos 22/11-01/12 R 31,170
3. Dj Mentions R148,310
4. OB's on 31/12 R220,000
5. Interviews x 4 R 42,600
6. Additional adhoc mentions +/- 2 (no schedule available)

Total value to client on the above R595,200 (excl. vat)

Also, there are print campaign and promotional items associated to the above which is an estimate value of R130 000.

Attached are the documents supporting how the above figure was derived. I hope this is the information that you were looking for. I am in consultation with Santosh to edit the existing top 100 promos to exclude client's names been mentioned.

As a matter of urgency please advise on the way forward.

Kindest Regards

xxxxxxxx
Portfolio Sales Manager : Lotus FM
SABC Radio Sales
Tel. 031-xxxxxxx
Fax. 031-3625476
Cell. xxxxxxxxx

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From: Strini Naicker
Sent: 23 December 2008 10:40 AM
To: xxxxxxx
Cc: Santosh Beharie; 'xxxxxxxxx'
Subject: RE: Air-time concerns at Lotus FM
Hi,

Well, stop this immediately. Let me know of the outcome.

Regards

Strini Naicker
Acting Group Executive
SABC Commercial Enterprises
Tel. : 011-7147396
Fax. : 011-7147167
Cell : 0827764869

---

From: xxxxxxxx
Sent: 22 December 2008 09:22 PM
To: Strini Naicker
Cc: Santosh Beharie; 'xxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: RE: Air-time concerns at Lotus FM

Hi Strini,

Below is an email that I sent to Santosh Beharie (Acting Station Manager) regarding my concerns. With reference to the attached trade exchange document client was supposed to receive +/- R93 000 worth of advertising which was scheduled by Wanele's department and R20,000 generic spend schedule by Radio Sales : KZN. I investigated the scheduling of commercials today, and ascertained that the Dj's mentions and scheduling of additional commercials was sanctioned by Gail Samuels. Subsequent, to this Gail had a meeting with client and approved additional flighting of commercials which are live reads and DJ mention in each show (24 hours flighting). I am not sure what the rational that was used to allocate additional commercials to client which Gail is to advise on.

My concerns, as iterated in the email below is that clients commercials are being engulfed by Premier Attractions commercials. This is a major concern, as it seems that Premier Attractions are owning Lotus fm.

These additional flighting of the Dj mentions and promos, etc. are scheduled from the 19-31 December 2008.


Kindest Regards

xxxxxxxx
Portfolio Sales Manager : Lotus FM
SABC Radio Sales
Tel. 031-xxxxxxx
Fax. 031-3625476
Cell. 08xxxxxxxx

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From: xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 22 December 2008 01:19 PM
To: Santosh Beharie
Cc: Suveena Devkurran; Wanele Mngomezulu; Andrew Smythe
Subject: Premier Attractions

Hi Santosh,

I have received numerous complaints from clients and Account Executives regarding their commercials been engulfed by Premier Attractions promos. As far as I am aware that the trade exchange between Lotus fm and Premier Attractions is +/- R93 000 but it seems like client is getting more value than the trade exchange agreement.

Premier attractions commercials (recorded, live reads and DJ live mentions) as being played every half hour on the station.

This is quite a concern to clients as their commercials are being lost amongst the Premier Attraction commercials. I am quite concerned that clients might want to cancel their radio campaigns.

Please could this matter be treated urgently as we have clients paying for their commercials. I will also appreciate it, if a schedule for Premier Attractions can be provided to me.

Kindest Regards

xxxxxxxxx
Portfolio Sales Manager : Lotus FM
SABC Radio Sales
Tel. 031-xxxxxx
Fax. 031-3625476
Cell. 08xxxxxxxx

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From: Strini Naicker
Sent: 22 December 2008 07:08 PM
To: xxxxxxx; Gail Samuels
Subject: RE: Air-time concerns at Lotus FM

Hi xxxxxx/ Gail,

Please send me your urgent response tomorrow as this is a serious allegation. And it is probably compromising airtime revenues.

Regards

Strini Naicker
Acting Group Executive
SABC Commercial Enterprises
Tel. : 011-7147396
Fax. : 011-7147167
Cell : 0827764869

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From: xxxxxxxxx
Sent: 22 December 2008 03:16 PM
To: Strini Naicker
Subject: Air-time concerns at Lotus FM


Hi Strini

Apologies for sending you this email...but I do believe that you are the appropriate SABC Group Executive to copy this communication to. Please refer to emails below. The core of the concern refers to the value of publicity that this commercial entity (viz: Premier Attractions) is receiving via Lotus FM (a PBS unit). A comment from the Portfolio Sales Manager of Lotus FM (xxxxxxx of Radio Active) is also attached below. I am not going to make any allegations at this stage, but suffice to say (as we both know), that SABC radio personnel (including the Station's Management) have had their service-contracts (with the SABC) terminated for lesser offenses. Perhaps, the necessary investigation can be lodged from your office?

Apologies for disturbing you during the festive season. I hope that you and the family enjoy a peaceful holiday...

Regards

xxxxxx


----- Original Message -----

From: xxxxx @sabc.co.za>

To: xxxxxx.co.za>

Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 10:15 AM

Subject: RE: Marketing your best (...and your second-best) on-air products


Hi xxxxx,

I totally agree with the comments. This was a decision by the station manager.


Kindest Regards

xxxxxxxx
Portfolio Sales Manager : Lotus FM
SABC Radio Sales
Tel. 031-xxxxxx
Fax. 031-3625476
Cell. 08xxxxxxxx

---

From: xxxxx
Sent: 21 December 2008 10:53 AM
To: xxxxxx
Subject: Marketing your best (...and your second-best) on-air products

Hi xxxxx,


Kindly refer to my email to Gail and Santosh (below).

How and why is Premier Attractions getting so much of free publicity?

The "one" commercial that features "almost all" of the DJ's voices, is almost 1 minute and 30 seconds long...and it plays at least once every hour. There is no formal log in the studio for these commercials. They are being played at will. This excludes the other commercials that are either directly or indirectly publicizing the same event...viz: "Lotus's Family-Fusion New Year's Eve party at the ICC"...and the "Song of the Year count-down at the ICC on New Year's Eve"...and the official "Lotus FM and Premier Attractions New Years Eve Party at the ICC" advertisement. This is a pure commercial venture for Premier Attractions. We have not yet factored into account the number of free-bie DJ mentions that are being made...and the ticket give-aways that are being done. So, the final question is...How much is Premier Attractions actually paying to the SABC for this publicity...and can a PBS-entity legally justify such a commercial partnership in terms of the airtime given?

Regards

xxxxxxx

Why Strike

BEMAWU has always been a responsible and professional union. We have, consistently remain the largest union at the SABC and continue to fight for the rights of our members.

We have stated on record that industrial action is a last resort. Our decision as a union to go on strike, is reserved for the most serious issues.

Our SABC is stands on the brink of total destruction. The proud organization we have built up over many years has made headlines in the world and local news; driven by fruitless and wasteful expenditure, corruption, political interference and in-fighting. Most notably however, is the financial situation the SABC finds itself in.

Last year during salary negotiations a multi-term salary agreement was proposed by management. This was to ensure labour peace during the Confederations Cup and the World Cup Soccer in 2010. BEMAWU initially refused to sign the agreement, because it was drafted in such a manner that our members could have been severely prejudiced by it. The prejudice was if the CPI-X was to be very low, i.e 4%, our salary increase for 2009 would have been 5 %.

However, towards November last year [2008] we realized that the CPI-X would pitch high, in which event the agreement would favour the members. BEMAWU signed the agreement. The agreement has a clause which stipulates if the average CPI-X goes below 4% or reaches 9% and above, any party may re-open negotiations. It is common knowledge that the average CPI-X for the year was 11.2%. In terms of the agreement the SABC is obliged to increase salaries by 12.2%. It has failed to do so.

Had the SABC followed sound practice (as BEMAWU had), its calculations would have shown that the CPI-X would pitch higher than 9%. The SABC was then supposed to have re-opened negotiations . It however failed to do so. The SABC waited until after the implementation date of 1 April and still failed to properly negotiate with BEMAWU. At the implementation date, and in absence of a new agreement, the SABC became liable for the CPI-X plus 1% (12.2%). As a result, the SABC is, and will remain liable for this percentage until it has negotiated a new percentage.

The SABC has made several offers, which were rejected by BEMAWU. In a nutshell we rejected these offers because they [the offers] did not address the implementation of the 12.2%.

The two other [SABC] unions referred disputes to the CCMA as “interest” disputes, whilst BEMAWU referred a “rights” dispute. An interest dispute is something you are not entitled to, but which you believe you can enforce by means on industrial action. A “rights” dispute is something you believe you have a clear right to, which may only be enforced via litigation (CCMA, Court). The other two unions had to abandon their right to the 12.2% increase in order to get permission to go on strike, and they did so at the CCMA and the Labour Court. The Labour Court granted permission for a strike.

BEMAWU still believes its members are entitled to the 12.2% increase and it should be enforced via arbitration. BEMAWU has indeed received a setdown notice for arbitration at the CCMA for 12 August 2009. However, in light of the Labour Court ruling that the dispute is a dispute of interest, BEMAWU approached SABC management yesterday to clarify what its stance would be at the CCMA on 12 August. If we wait until then, and they (the SABC) present the Labour Court ruling it may well be that the CCMA rules that our dispute is a dispute of interest too. BEMAWU will then not be able to proceed with arbitration.

Based on that, and other factors, BEMAWU has decided to ballot its members on a strike. At this point in time it will be a secondary strike; this would be considered a sympathy strike. The outcome of the ballot was in favour of a strike.

The way forward.

Today BEMAWU will give the SABC seven days notice; as required in terms of the Act. A “BEMAWU only” meeting will be held before we embark on any full scale industrial action. At the meeting members will discuss inter alia whether we should indeed proceed with a full scale strike, how this should be approached to maximum effective.

Some members voted against a strike; it is a democratic right to not go on strike and nobody will force or intimidate a member to strike, should we proceed with a strike. We are urging members to please attend the meeting that is scheduled for this week to voice your opinion.. “Come and listen to what others are saying why they want to go on strike. Come and ask questions which cannot be answered and discussed here.”

Most importantly, BEMAWU urges its members not to resign from the union if they do not want to go on strike. By doing so its members are playing into management’s hands in more than one way. It has been said openly that the SABC will have to retrench. “If you are not a union member, no-one will fight for you, and you may become a victim. We are fighting collectively for better conditions of employment for all. But our fist priority will always be our own members.” BEMAWU has made proposals in the past and it has done so again that a higher percentage increase should be awarded to unions members. This will save some money as a third of the bargaining unit is not unionized. Management is on record that they prefer that all employees belong to a union. If you are no longer a union member, you may find yourself in a group that will receive no increase at all, or maybe a lower percentage increase.

BEMAWU is hopeful that it will not be necessary to strike to reach agreement with the SABC. Members are however in control of the mandate, and have voted to proceed with a strike. “If you are prepared to accept a lower increase, we will discuss it in the meeting to follow this week.” BEMAWU will again meet with management and there is a possibility of a meeting with the Minister to try and reach agreement.

The medical doctors went on strike to improve their conditions of employment. They have decided to stand up and fight for not only their livelihoods, but for the sake of their families and because they owe it to them. It is not a crime or a shame to exercise constitutional rights and to strike.

Remember to visit our blog at http://bemawu.blogspot.com for instant news and updates. E-mails have become a very cumbersome and difficult way to communicate as it is constantly blocked and delayed.

Update on Salary Increase

On Thursday, 21 May 2009 BEMAWU served a letter of demand on the SABC to effect the CPIX + 1% increase in terms of the Multi-term agreement signed last year. We made it clear we will proceed with legal action should the SABC not implement the 12%. We were called to an urgent meeting on Friday, 22 May 2009 with Khanyi Mkhonza and Mr. Andile Mbeki of the Board. The CPO, CFO and other members of the Board/Management also attended.

We made it clear that we are not there to negotiate a percentage increase, but that we want to enforce our right in terms of the Multi-term Agreement.

The SABC admitted and acknowledged that SABC employees are entitled to the 12% increase. They explained the financial difficulty they are finding themselves in to us (again), and undertook to report back to us Monday, 25 May 2009 at 12:00 as to how they intend to implement the 12%.

Please note that a looming strike in respect of the salary increase is devoid of all truth at this stage. This however does not mean that we are not prepared to embark on procedural industrial action as and when the need arises.

We believe the SABC will implement 7% immediately, and discuss with us how to implement the rest in today's meeting. We are hopeful that we can reach an amicable agreement with them to avoid further legal action.


ISSUED BY THE BROADCASTING, ELECTRONIC, MEDIA AND ALLIED WORKERS UNION (BEMAWU)