‘Zondo didn’t write state capture report’: Motsoeneng comes out swinging

Former SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng said on Monday he suspected that the state capture commission’s report, which has referred him to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for possible prosecution, was not penned by commission chair, chief justice Raymond Zondo.

Zondo recommended that the former SABC COO be investigated and prosecuted for possible contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), for his role in the business dealings between the public broadcaster and Gupta owned company TNA Media.

Responding to the report and its recommendations against him, Motsoeneng said: “After careful consideration, I am of the view that ... Zondo owes South Africans an explanation as to who is the real author of the state capture report.”

Motsoeneng said though the report recommends that he be investigated, it did this, however, “without findings” against him.

Gupta-owned TNA Media entered into deals with the SABC and other state organs through a show titled TNA Business Breakfast during Motsoeneng’s tenure at the public broadcaster.

The SABC carried the programme live for free, while state organs such as Transnet, Eskom and Telkom splurged millions sponsoring the show with TNA benefiting handsomely from the deal.

“It is most probable that Motsoeneng’s gross abuse of power at the SABC, including diverting public resources vested in the SABC to benefit the Guptas’ rival media company, appear to have been sanction by both Ms [Faith] Muthambi [the then communications minister] and [former] president Jacob Zuma,” Zondo said in the report.

Motsoeneng hit back, saying the commission misrepresented the section of the PFMA in his case.

South Africans must remember that I did not finish my oral submissions at the commission, and I was promised that I will get an opportunity to complete my evidence at a later stage. I sense they realised I was swimming like a fish - the commission could not find what they were looking for. 

—  Hlaudi Motsoeneng, former SABC COO

“I have come to a conclusion that the report was not written by Zondo. It cannot possibly be because judge Zondo as the chairperson of the commission cannot refer matters for possible prosecution based on an incorrect section of the PFMA,” Motsoeneng said.

Motsoeneng said what Zondo had “relied on doesn’t apply to the SABC. If indeed it was written by him, Zondo would not quote a wrong section.

“I do not believe that adv Thandi Norman, who was responsible for my oral evidence, ... was not part of the final conclusion of the report. I believe adv Norman will not have presented incorrect facts without evidence. It seems the person who presented the evidence from my oral presentation to the chairperson of the commission, presented merely gossips,” he said.

Motsoeneng said Zondo in 2019 was of the view that he was neither the minister nor the GCEO of the SABC, and couldn’t in any way recommend him to be prosecuted as if he were the accounting authority or had been the group CEO, the accounting officer at the SABC at the time.

“South Africans must remember that I did not finish my oral submissions at the commission, and I was promised that I will get an opportunity to complete my evidence at a later stage. I sense they realised I was swimming like a fish — the commission could not find what they were looking for,” Motseoneng said

“Today, SABC employees were retrenched, and salaries have been cut, leading to low staff morale. These things never happened during my tenure. I believe the workers must be paid very well, so that they can do what they are employed to do at their best.

“The people of SA should not be misled by the narrative that is portrayed by the forces who are against transformation. I am a target of these forces because they know if I ascend to any position in SA, those who are marginalised will benefit,” he said. 

The former COO also had issue with some of the recommendations made by Zondo, including the one about the TNA having to pay back R4.2m to the SABC.

“As a matter of fact, the SABC paid for its own production for the sake of promoting its editorial independence and control. The commission was supposed to investigate how much the SABC generated from TNA Business Briefings,” Motsoeneng said.

He said it was not only the TNA that generated revenue from hosting the business breakfasts in partnership with the SABC.

“It is a matter of fact that the SABC generated revenue out of advertisements on the Morning Live Show. It goes to show that people who analysed the costs associated with TNA Business Briefing do not understand television broadcasting as an industry,” he said.

Motsoeneng also attempted to poke holes in the report.

“I find several errors in this report for example, as the COO, I was not appointed by minister Muthambi. Minister Muthambi approved my appointment as COO through a resolution of the board,” he said, 

“I was not given editorial powers by former minister Faith Muthambi. The powers were not given to me as an individual but were delegated to the position of COO, irrespective of who is occupying it. In his own report, Zondo said I abused power at the SABC. This is incorrect. I operated within the policies of the SABC, including through delegation of authority.”

Zondo also recommended that former CEO Lulama Mokhobo should, alongside Motsoeneng, also be investigated for possible prosecution for contravening several sections of the PFMA, which deals with the conduct of accounting officials, including taking all necessary steps to ensure collection of monies owed to the entity.