Latest court defeat means Motsoeneng ‘must vacate the SABC without delay’: DA

19 September 2016 - 13:26 By Bekezela Phakathi
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Beleaguered South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has suffered another court defeat after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed his application for leave to appeal a ruling by the High Court in Cape Town‚ which effectively set aside the permanent appointment.

In May‚ the High Court dismissed with costs an application by Motsoeneng and the SABC for leave to appeal against a ruling that invalidated his permanent appointment. Motsoeneng‚ Communications Minister Faith Muthambi‚ and the broadcaster subsequently approached the SCA.

In its ruling last week‚ the appeal court stated that “the application for leave to appeal is dismissed with costs on the grounds that there is no reasonable prospect of success in an appeal and there is no other compelling reason why it should be heard”.

In his initial ruling late last year‚ High Court Judge Dennis Davis‚ said the information before Muthambi at the time of Motsoeneng’s promotion was “muddled and unclear”‚ and put her “in no position to exercise a rational decision to elevate him”.

The case was brought to the court by the Democratic Alliance (DA)‚ based on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings against him‚ made in 2014. In her report‚ When Governance and Ethics Fail‚ Madonsela found that Motsoeneng had fabricated his matric qualification and increased his salary irregularly‚ from R1.5-million to R2.4-million in one year.

Motsoeneng’s battle to retain his job at the broadcaster has dragged on for more than two years. It has played out in the High Court‚ the Supreme CA and in the Constitutional Court‚ where it had an abortive stint.

James Selfe‚ chairman of the DA's federal executive said on Monday: “Effectively Mr Motsoeneng will have no joy from our courts and must vacate the SABC without delay.”

“Mr Motsoeneng‚ Communications Minister Faith Muthambi and the SABC have been unsuccessful in almost all courts in which he has sought to keep his job. He and his band of protectors now need to abandon this abuse of our judicial system and the taxpayers money into which millions of rands have already plundered‚” said Selfe.

“The DA calls on Mr Motsoeneng and the SABC to stop their vexatious litigation and not approach the Constitutional Court and tender his resignation effective immediately. This is the only way that the process to restore the SABC’s credibility can begin‚” he said.

- TMG Digital/BDlive

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