Tebogo Leshope, the interim CEO of Sentech, a company based in South Africa, expressed “great concern” regarding the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) refusal or inability to pay its signal distribution fees.
This is due to the fact that the state-owned broadcasting signal distributor requires continual payments in order to satisfy its own debt obligations.
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Why Sentech wants SABC debt resolved
“We have services for which we need to pay – for satellite, for technology, so we need some cash flow,” said the interim CEO.
“Both the SABC and Sentech boards are assisting and are in discussions about the outstanding issues and there is a team dedicated to trying to find a solution and explore alternatives.
“Our approach is to bring it to the attention of government and see what can be done. But at the end of the day, the SABC is still our customer and we are hoping for the issue to be resolved by the end of the year.” he added.
This week in parliament, it came to light that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) owes the broadcasting industry more than R700 million. Deputy Communications Minister Philly Mapulane informed the Members of Parliament that the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is not only legally insolvent but also owes the broadcasting industry about half of its annual earnings.
Mapulane said before the parliamentary body that if the current circumstance is allowed to persist, it will “impact heavily on the sustainability” of Sentech. Taking into account the fact that Sentech’s annual income is approximately R1.4 billion, it has the potential to bring this organisation to its knees.
In the meantime, Communications Minister Mondli Gungubele has recommended that the board of directors and management of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) develop a corporate plan for the financial years 2024 to 2026.
About Sentech
SENTECH is the main provider of electronic communications network services to the broadcasting and communications industry in South Africa. It is a state-owned firm that has achieved the highest degree of B-BBEE certification possible. The SENTECH Act and the Electronic Communications Act (ECA) are the primary pieces of law that serve as the basis for the organisation’s mandate.
The broadcasting industry is presently run as a commercial organisation under the ownership of the government of South Africa through the Department of Communications. It possesses its own board of directors and operates as a separate entity.
SENTECH was once a technical branch of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (also known as “SABC”), and it was responsible for the signal distribution services provided by the Corporation. SENTECH was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the SABC in 1992 after the division was formalised as a corporation by the SABC. The SENTECH Act No. 63 of 1996 was changed in 1996, transforming SENTECH into a separate public organisation and giving it ownership of the nation’s largest infrastructure for terrestrial signal distribution for both television and radio. This amendment took place in 1996.
Tebogo Leshope, who previously served as Sentech’s COO, has been given the role of temporary CEO. Tebogo Leshope, Sentech’s Chief Operating Officer, has been given the role of Interim CEO. This information was confirmed to ITWeb by the state signal distributor, which stated that its board of directors had nominated Leshope to serve as the temporary CEO. Leshope will continue in this role until the search for a new CEO has been finished.