Cape Town - Former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng won’t give evidence at Parliament’s inquiry into the beleaguered state broadcaster.
Ad hoc committee chairperson Vincent Smith said Motsoeneng would not be called to testify, despite many witnesses having identified him as being at the centre of the SABC’s woes.
Former SABC board chairpersons Ben Ngubane and Ellen Tshabalala spent Friday defending Motsoeneng’s appointment and his decisions during his controversial tenure.
“First of all, Hlaudi is not a member of the board. The second point is that we can’t have an unlimited number of people coming to the committee,” Smith said. “This is not an inquiry to find anyone guilty, it is about gathering information.”
He said the inquiry wouldn’t be reduced to a labour issue. All parties, including Motsoeneng, would be given an opportunity to respond and “come clean”, Smith added.
Tshabalala, meanwhile, told the committee she would make another submission tomorrow listing those involved in politically interfering in SABC affairs.
Motsoeneng’s lawyer, Zola Majavu, said his client would like the pending disciplinary inquiry against him to be expedited. “His fate is in the hands of his employer.”
Ngubane has defended Motsoeneng, but parliamentarians have warned Ngubane that he may face a prison sentence if he lied. He contradicted evidence presented by SABC staff members last year, after he refused to share information about his relationship with the controversial Gupta family.