Pretoria - Axed SABC group news editor Phathiswa Magopeni has taken the public broadcaster to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) following her dismissal a week ago.
The Pretoria News has seen the application form, dated February 3 and enabling Magopeni to refer the dispute to the CCMA for conciliation.
Speaking to the Pretoria News this week, Magopeni accused the SABC of having disregarded its own disciplinary code, and that there was no investigation report regarding her case.
She said: “This was a flawed disciplinary process and the SABC failed its own process because there was not even an investigation report in my case. This proves I was targeted.”
She said disciplinary procedures would consist of a few stages, including an investigation.
The SABC disciplinary code states: “Any authorised person, including the Group Internal Audit Department, shall on request investigate the veracity of the alleged breach of a workplace rule on the basis of the information received from a person who brought an allegation of misconduct to the SABC’s attention, and the employee concerned may be placed on suspension pending the finalisation of such an investigation.”
However, Magopeni said none of this was done during her case, and she therefore instructed her lawyer to take the matter to the CCMA.
The SABC fired Magopeni after finding her guilty of misconduct a week ago following a disciplinary hearing last month.
It said last week: “Magopeni’s services have been terminated with immediate effect and she has been informed accordingly.”
In December last year, the public broadcaster instituted an open and transparent disciplinary process to deal with the airing of an interdicted Special Assignment episode.
Magopeni was found guilty of misconduct for failure to take appropriate measures to ensure that the court order was complied with.
“Advocate Nazeer Cassim recommended that Magopeni be given a sanction of a warning.
“However, if Magopeni made common cause with the remarks as set out in the heads of argument submitted on her behalf, the SABC should, in its discretion and decision-making power, adopt a sanction which is consistent with that of a breakdown in the trust relationship between employer and employee,” said the SABC.
Before the disciplinary process, Magopeni had laid a grievance against SABC board chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini and chief executive Madoda Mxakwe over two incidents where she accused the duo of meddling in editorial affairs.
One incident involved a phone call Makhathini allegedly made to Magopeni as news head regarding an interview with President Cyril Ramaphosa, while the other involved the coverage of the Zulu royal family succession debacle.
Magopeni laid the grievance after the SABC started a disciplinary process against her over the airing of an episode of investigative TV show Special Assignment.
Makhathini initially questioned the timing of the grievance, hinting that Magopeni had waited to submit the grievance when going through a disciplinary process.
The 36-page affidavit written by Makhathini states in part: “As I understand this complaint, Magopeni accuses me of attempting to coerce the SABC into interviewing the president of the ANC and of the Republic of South Africa, Mr (Cyril) Ramaphosa.
“Her complaint … is unsubstantiated and without merit.”
Pretoria News