COSATU Limpopo and Communications Workers Union Call for SABC Probe
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in Limpopo has thrown its weight behind the Communications Workers Union (CWU) in calling for an investigation into the dismissal of workers at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
On the final Friday of April, COSATU led a mass picket outside the SABC provincial offices in Polokwane, protesting “increasing unfair labour practices including the purging of outspoken union representatives, and the failure to adhere to occupational health and safety regulations.”
The protest drew support from COSATU Young Workers, ANC Youth League, SACP, SANCO, SASCO, and other civil society groups.
The CWU says workers are “aggrieved” by the dismissal of union shop stewards who were vocal about worker concerns.
Central to their grievances are unresolved wage issues dating back to 2019, when the SABC implemented a wage freeze following Section 189 retrenchments.
In 2022, the SABC paid workers a once-off R18,000 non-pensionable payment despite opposition.
A 6% pensionable salary increase was agreed to in 2023, but was not backdated to April as expected.
COSATU says a brokered agreement with government to monitor the SABC’s finances and pay the owed backpay “was never implemented,” and only 50% was paid out.
Salary negotiations in 2024 collapsed despite CCMA intervention, and workers have yet to receive increases.
The 2025 salary talks, due to begin in April, have not commenced. “Shop stewards who have dared to raise the issue with management have been dismissed for gross misconduct,” the CWU claims.
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SABC employees in Polokwane also flagged health and safety concerns, citing “a sewage odour in the corridors,” “decades-old carpets” causing sinus issues, and “broken air-conditioning in the newsroom.”
A memorandum of demands has been handed over to provincial management, giving 14 days to respond or face “rolling mass action nationally.”
“We stand 100% behind SABC workers and call on the employer to urgently attend to their grievances and reinstate the purged shop stewards with immediate effect or face reinforced mass action,” said Hangwani Mashao, COSATU Limpopo Provincial Secretary.
COSATU and ANC Youth League Protest Over Dismissal of Thobela FM Presenter Lenny T
Provincial COSATU chairperson Lesiba Monyaki has accused Thobela FM management of deliberately creating a hostile work environment to force employees to resign.
He was speaking during the union’s “Bring Back Lenny T to Work” protest, held at the SABC offices in Polokwane on April 25.
The protest, attended by throngs of supporters, was organised by both the ANC Youth League in Limpopo and COSATU, aiming to pressure the public broadcaster to reinstate Ditlalemeso morning show co-presenter Leonard “Lenny T” Legodi.
ANCYL provincial secretary Phineas Sebola warned that the Youth League would boycott all Thobela FM shows until Lenny T is reinstated.
The protest also drew support from civic organisations, including SANCO, SASCO, and the South African Communist Party (SACP).
Lenny T was barred from entering the Thobela FM studios by security personnel on April 7, despite having reported for duty.
This followed reports that he had turned down a job offer from Capricorn FM, a Limpopo-based commercial radio station, even though the offer was allegedly better than his current remuneration.
“We are aware of what is happening behind those closed doors—that some bosses here have the tendency to frustrate employees because they want to hire their boyfriends, girlfriends, and family members,” said Monyaki.
Lenny T Takes SABC to Court
“Lenny T” Phahlane, real name Leonard Legodi has approached the Limpopo High Court to stop the SABC from hiring his replacement on the Ditlalemeso morning show and to compel the broadcaster to reinstate him.
This comes after Thobela FM, earlier this month, denied Phahlane access to its Polokwane studios, triggering a public outcry and protests.
Phahlane said he signed a contract with the SABC on March 31, 2025, to present the morning show until March 31, 2026.
“I was refused entrance to the premises by the security guards on the instruction of the respondent’s employees who are responsible for the management and overseeing of my contract with the broadcaster. I was surprised because the contract obligated me to be present every morning,” said Lenny T
“The SABC, after receipt of my signed acceptance, never challenged the validity of the [contract] by virtue of their acceptance and absence of a clear revocation as at the date of April 2, 2025, or a condition antecedent March 31, 2025 offer; the SABC is bound,” he said.
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Phahlane said he sought legal advice and instructed his lawyer, Sam Matsimela of Mmakola Matsimela Incorporated, who wrote to the SABC on April 8 demanding clarity.
Phahlane added that on April 11, the SABC informed his legal team that the offer had been revoked.
“The revocation has never been communicated to me, or that the offer of March 31 had a condition that it must be accepted on 31 March 2025,” said Lenny T
He said the broadcaster’s explanation that the offer was invalid because it was not signed by March 1 was false.
“I respectfully submit that it is a red herring because the decision to revoke the contract was taken after 2 April 2025, having signed the contract and the contract having a binding effect.”
“The revocation claim was brought to my attention for the first time by the legal representatives of the SABC… a demonstrable lie,” he said.