Rowdy Hlaudi court bid

20 August 2014 - 02:02 By Philani Nombembe
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
WE'VE GOT YOUR BACK: SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng makes his way through a crowd of supporters outside the Cape Town High Court yesterday. The DA is making an urgent application to have him suspended from his position at the broadcaster
WE'VE GOT YOUR BACK: SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng makes his way through a crowd of supporters outside the Cape Town High Court yesterday. The DA is making an urgent application to have him suspended from his position at the broadcaster
Image: HALDEN KROG

Just as the Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court set aside the appointment of Menzi Simelane as head of the National Prosecution Authority, so the Cape Town High Court should set aside the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as chief of the SABC.

That was the call the DA made yesterday at an urgent court application to have Motsoeneng's appointment as chief operations officer reviewed and set aside.

More than 100 people in ANC T-shirts and traditional attire, as well as religious leaders, protested outside the court in support of Motsoeneng. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with his face and the words "Hands off Hlaudi". The crowd could be heard from inside the courtroom chanting slogans accusing the DA of racism.

Motsoeneng thanked the protesters, who braved the cold weather and rain to support him.

"I am happy that I am supported here in the Western Cape, being from the Free State," he said.

The DA is convinced that claims that Motsoeneng lied about his matric qualification and abused his power when he increased his salary from R1.5-million to R2.4-million within a year are enough to subject him to a disciplinary process.

The court action emanates from Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report in March that found Motsoeneng misled the SABC about his matric and acted in bad faith by increasing his salary three times in the space of a year. Motsoeneng was deemed responsible for the purging of senior staff, which cost the SABC millions of rands in litigation, and of increasing certain staff members' pay, swelling the SABC salary bill by R29-million.

Motsoeneng had been acting chief operations officer when he was appointed permanently in July, despite Madonsela's findings.

Speaking outside court, the chairman of the DA federal executive, James Selfe, said: "We believe that was illegal and needs to be set aside. We used as a basis of that the decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court to set aside the appointment of advocate Menzi Simelane because they are identical cases."

Selfe said the DA was asking the court to suspend Motsoeneng pending a disciplinary inquiry.

Motsoeneng's counsel, advocate Norman Arendse SC, dismissed the court action as a political ploy. He asked the court to dismiss it and slap the DA with legal costs. The hearing continues today.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now