“He bragged often of his closeness to politicians but at first we dismissed this as fantasy.” This is how former senior SABC news political correspondent Crystal Orderson‚ describes her early encounters with a man who rose through the ranks to become the state broadcaster’s powerful chief operating officer‚ Hlaudi Motsoeneng.Orderson‚ in an article published in Business Day on Thursday‚ said Motsoeneng would eventually be discarded by his political masters‚ but warned that the damage he had caused by then will not easily be undone.“I joined the SABC in 1996‚ the same time as Hlaudi Motsoeneng. I was based in Cape Town and Motsoeneng was in the Bloemfontein office. As the new batch of SABC recruits‚ we were often on the same courses‚ such as storytelling and election coverage training‚” she wrote.“Motsoeneng did not impress me much but one must be cordial to colleagues and I tried to engage. He was charming but never struck me as CEO material. But when Mosiuoa Lekota was removed from his position as Free State premier‚ Motsoeneng’s political connections began to become apparent.“He bragged often of his closeness to politicians but at first we dismissed this as fantasy. He often reminded us that if we stayed close we could rise together. We simply laughed this off.”Read the full story.TMG Digital/BDlive..