SABC CEO tunnels his way out of trouble
Staff at the SABC continued to stage a sit-in outside Acting CEO Gab Mampone’s office yesterday, despite loud hammering and drilling from the inside of the office which seems to indicate that Mampone is intent on tunnelling out.
Mampone has been barricaded in his office since last week, with access being provided only to replace the batteries on his DSTV remote.
“It took five hours for it to dawn on him that he had been barricaded in,” a protest leader who cannot be named in the media despite the fact that he is a prominent media personality said. “He only realised it when he tried to leave his office to go to the Executive kitchen to microwave his lunch.”
Mampone has been blamed for many of the financial woes of the broadcaster, which is seeking a R10bn government bailout. He has declined to accept any blame, citing a decline in advertising sales as being the source of the crisis. Prior to his current role Mampone had been head of Advertising Sales, “an irony which seems to have escaped him” said the named source who cannot be named.
For the past year the public broadcaster has lurched from leadership crisis to leadership crisis. Former CEO Dali Mpofu was suspended, re-instated, suspended, re-instated and then re-instated for a second time as frantic human resources officials battled to keep up with a series of conflicting directives. It seems that he presently appears on the payroll as “Archive Librarian” in a compromise move.
Meanwhile a High court order this week overturned a previous Board decision to suspend Mpofu. It is unclear, however, which of several such decisions had been overturned and what affect this would have on Mampone’s future. When asked, SABC Spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said that Mampone would continue Acting as the broadcaster fell back on internal resources to keep its daily soap operas on air. It is widely expected that Mampone was due to temporarily take on the role of “Fanie” in the popular daily soap 7de Laan from next week.
“Right now we have two CEOs and no actors, so it makes sense to redeploy Mr Mampone into an Acting acting role,” Kganyago said.
Mampone could be reached for comment on his cellphone yesterday, but he had nothing interesting to say.
