Johannesburg - The DA on Thursday called for the release of the law firm report which cleared the SABC's new chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
“Communications Minister (Faith) Muthambi must appear before the committee to answer a range of unanswered questions surrounding the appointment of Mr Motsoeneng... she must produce the report of the private law firm,” Democratic Alliance MP Gavin Davis said.
“If she is so confident that it clears Mr Motsoeneng’s name, she should have no problem with releasing it for public scrutiny.”
Speaking during a post-cabinet briefing, Muthambi said Motsoeneng was cleared of all wrongdoing by a legal firm before being permanently appointed as the COO.
Muthambi said there was nothing irregular about Motsoeneng's appointment, despite a negative report by the public protector.
“The appointment of the independent law firm by the SABC board to investigate all the issues raised by the public protector was the most responsible way to deal with the public protector's report,” Muthambi said.
“The SABC board and myself are satisfied that the report by the appointed firm of attorneys has cleared Mr Motsoeneng of any wrongdoing and therefore there was nothing before me that suggested that I should not confirm the appointment.”
The board informed the minister about their recommendation after a board meeting on Monday.
Davis said if Muthambi wanted to overturn the public protector’s report, she needed to apply to do so in a court of law.
He said he would write to the chairperson of the portfolio committee on communications to ask that Muthambi be summoned before the committee.
In Madonsela's report issued in February, she found Motsoeneng's salary increased from R1.5 million to R2.4m in one year, that he had purged senior staff, and misrepresented his qualifications - that he passed matric - to the SABC.
Sapa