Constitutional Court ruling forces Hlaudi Motsoeneng to pay for SABC protest ban fiasco
Former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng has failed to escape personal liability for the legal costs associated with a 2016 on-air ban on protests.
The Constitutional Court finalised the matter on Monday.
“The Constitutional Court has considered this leave to appeal. It has concluded that the application be dismissed as it bears no prospects of success,” the judgment reads.
The application was dismissed with costs.
The Labour Court had initially ordered Motsoeneng to personally pay for the legal costs associated with the ban, which had resulted in eight journalists - the so-called SABC 8 - being unlawfully fired at the time.
Motsoeneng has been appealing that ruling.
Back in June, Anton van der Bijl‚ head of Solidarity’s labour law division‚ told TimesLIVE that Motsoeneng was simply postponing the inevitable.
“He is playing a cat-and-mouse game with the courts‚ but he will back himself into a corner yet again‚” Van der Bijl said at the time.
“Solidarity has repeatedly indicated that it will not rest until Motsoeneng has paid the costs in his personal capacity as the court had ordered. We are looking forward to oppose him in the highest court in the country.”
Former SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng says he respects Constitutional court ruling and will abide by it. Court dismissed his application for leave to appeal Labour court ruling that he personally pay legal cost pertaining to banning of coverage of service delivery protests in 2016.
— SAfm news (@SAfmnews) November 19, 2018
South Africa Motsoeneng claims his dismissal was part of a 'political agenda' against him 5 years ago |