'SABC was performing under my leadership,’ says Hlaudi Motsoeneng

Former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng says the public broadcaster's new leadership is “clueless and obsessed with blaming” him for the current financial crisis.

Motsoeneng‚ who is embroiled in legal disputes with the SABC over the payment of his pension‚ told Sowetan in an interview at his Krugersdorp home: “The SABC was performing under our leadership - nobody was retrenched.”

However‚ SABC spokesperson Neo Momodu said: “The SABC would like to make it clear that Motsoeneng was the central figure in the complete financial and governance collapse of the corporation‚ which the current executive is redressing.”

She said the current SABC board and management has inherited over R5.5-billion in irregular expenditure from Motsoeneng’s period on the executive.

TimesLIVE reported last year that the controversial former SABC COO was dismissed in the middle of last year for bringing the broadcaster into disrepute. This was preceded by damning findings by the public protector and a R10-million bonus scandal.

Meanwhile‚ the SABC will on Tuesday release the findings and recommendations of an independent commission of inquiry into an alleged "sex for jobs" scandal at the broadcaster.

• Read the full story in today's Sowetan newspaper.