SABC board tells MPs it's managed to avoid 'Day Zero', blackout of its broadcasting services

CAPE TOWN - The SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) board says the broadcaster managed to avoid "Day Zero" and a complete blackout of all its broadcasting services.

The SABC board and management said this while briefing Parliament on Thursday on its corporate plan and progress on "stop-gap measures" to keep the public broadcaster operational despite its financial position.

But the organisation is still predicting a billion rand loss in the next financial year.

The SABC briefed Parliament on Thursday as the public broadcaster struggles with an effective funding model and years of financial instability.

Chairperson Khathutshelo Ramukumba told MPs that despite this, they had managed to avoid a worst-case scenario.

"The SABC was facing a potential day zero in the next six months, which could have led to a situation where the SABC may not been in a position to pay the salaries of its employees or even face a risk of a blackout of our broadcasting service."

He said while the SABC has avoided this, it’s still in financial difficulty and has projected more losses over the next three financial years.