Cape Town - The Western Cape High Court’s ruling that it was unlawful to appoint Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s as group executive for corporate affairs, saving him from unemployment after the public protector ruled he was unfit to serve as COO at the SABC, was widely welcomed by political parties on Monday.
The EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said they welcomed the judgment handed down. He said it was further proof that Motsoeneng was responsible for the public broadcaster’s decline.
Ndlozi said he hopes that the parliamentary ad hoc committee investigating the goings-on at the SABC factored in the High Court ruling that Motsoeneng should step down altogether.
Cope’s Dennis Bloem said they welcome the judgment, and also called on Communications Minister Faith Muthambi to have Motsoeneng removed from his office.
“We say Motsoeneng must know that no person is above the law, including him. This should serve as an example to all those in power and think that they can just outshine the laws of the country,” said Bloem.
The ANC’s Andile Lili said the DA, which brought the application to have Motsoeneng fired, is a racist organisation that does not want to see black people in senior positions. But, he said that now that the court had ruled, there was nothing they could do.
“We respect the court’s judgment; we support Motsoeneng and we will continue supporting him if he decides on appealing the judgment,” said Lili.
The court ruled that Motsoeneng had lied about his qualifications, abused his power and displayed improper conduct.
In the ruling, the SABC was directed to“commence disciplinary proceedings against Motsoeneng inter alia for his dishonesty relating to the misrepresentation of his qualifications, abuse of power and improper conduct in the appointments and salary increments of Ms Sully Motsweni, and for his role in the purging of senior staff members resulting in numerous labour disputes and settlement awards against the SABC (the new disciplinary proceedings)”.
Judge Owen Rogers said Motsoeneng should not be entitled to hold any position with the SABC. Rogers also said the public broadcaster and its board conducted themselves unlawfully.
The court ordered that a new disciplinary committee be elected to investigate Motsoeneng.
The management and board of the SABC also came under fire. After the public protector ruled that Motsoeneng should be fired as COO, the SABC instead appointed him group executive for corporate affairs (Geca), thereby saving his job.
“If the chairman of the board (Mbulaheni Maguvhe) and the other directors had urged new chief executive James Aguma not to appoint Motsoeneng as Geca he may have refrained. However the decision to appoint Motsoeneng was not theirs...” Motsoeneng, Aguma, the SABC, its board and chairman as well as Muthambi, were ordered to pay costs.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane said outside court the ruling was a significant victory for justice and democracy.
He said what is critical is that Motsoeneng is not an employee of the SABC. The next move, Maimane said, would be to jail Motsoeneng.
Maimane said the SABC has been in a state of complete dysfunction, and the court ruling shows it had acted in contradiction to its constitutional obligation.