The SABC has paid R3.2 million to its 5-member interim board during their six-month tenure, according to the Sunday Times.

It then informed its staff that there would be no salary increases in the new year.

The directors earned “almost double that of the previous board”, with the SABC stating the new directors attended more meetings. The payment means each member earned R640,000 for six months of work.

“SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said the board had deferred payment until staff salaries had been paid,” stated the report.

Kganyago said the board “had been at Auckland Park almost daily and had held 99 meetings”.

The board payments come at a time when the SABC has been declared virtually bankrupt, and requires a multi-billion-rand government bailout.

The news also follows a call by Minister of Communications Mmamoloko Kubayi to reduce the number of SABC board members from 12 to nine, and the number needed for a quorum to seven.

President Jacob Zuma appointed a new SABC board recommended by parliament‚ in October.

Acting chief executive officer of the SABC, Nomsa Philiso, scored a R877,000 bonus for the year ended March 2016 as part of a total package of R3.4 million, the City Press reported recently.

The paper said that the public broadcaster justified the payment by saying that she earned it through “sheer hard work” despite the company posting a R977 million loss after tax for the 2016/17 financial year.

Read: Acting SABC boss scores R877,000 payout