THE SABC has confirmed that the SANDF has not been deployed to their Cape Town and Gqeberha offices.
The public broadcaster said on Saturday that the deployment of the army followed the recent unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Meanwhile, SABC spokesperson Gugu Ntuli has dismissed misleading and malicious allegations that there is an ulterior motive for the presence of the SANDF on its premises.
Ntuli added that, as a National Key Point area delivering an essential service to the nation and considering the recent attacks on SABC journalists, it was deemed necessary that the physical premises and the employees working in these offices be protected.
She said the deployment was at most of its National Key Point premises around the country, including its headquarters in Auckland Park.
“In the exercise of their responsibilities, the members of the SANDF engage with the SABC’s internal security to familiarise themselves with some internal security processes and National Key Point activities, including News. At no point in time has and will the SANDF impact or get involved with operational matters of the SABC.
“While the SABC has no evidence that any SANDF personnel were in the newsroom, the public broadcaster would like to make it clear that any presence by SANDF in the newsroom would be unacceptable and not in line with the SABC’s public mandate and editorial policies,” Ntuli said.
POLITICAL BUREAU