Rustenburg – President Jacob Zuma must fire Communications Minister Faith Muthambi for the role she played in the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as permanent COO at the SABC, the Forum 4 Service Delivery (F4SD) said on Tuesday.
"Forum 4 Service Delivery is happy with the court judgement setting aside the disciplinary hearing that cleared Mr. Hlaudi Motsoeneng of any wrongdoing," said spokesperson Elias Mogoru.
He said Zuma must fire Muthambi when he reshuffles his cabinet, as she clearly undermined the former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela's 2014 report.
The report found that Motsoeneng had abused his position of power, had lied about his matric qualifications and purged the public broadcaster of senior staff. "An urgent investigation on the conduct of the chairperson and members of the disciplinary hearing that cleared Mr Motsoeneng by including a lie that he has a matric, must take place," Moguru said.
The Western Cape High Court on Monday ruled that the new appointment of Motsoeneng as group executive of corporate affairs, after a court had removed him as chief operating officer was unlawful and irrational.
Judge Owen Rogers said Motsoeneng was not entitled to occupy any position in the SABC, until either the Public Protector's report was set aside, or the fresh disciplinary process against him was concluded.
The Democratic Alliance last month launched the application to have Motsoeneng removed from the SABC as well as last year's disciplinary process against him set aside.
Mogoru said corruption must be dealt with in the harshest possible way, and the next step was for the Public Protector to further investigate Hlaudi and recommend strong remedial actions.