Cape Town - SABC chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng could be back at work next week if he has his way. He boldly declared this on Saturday night after he was cleared of the charges brought against him by the broadcaster.
Speaking to journalists after the verdict, a jubilant Motsoeneng said he felt vindicated and that nothing was going to stop him from transforming the public broadcaster.
“I am still an employee of the SABC and still the COO. Justice has prevailed. This confirms there was a ploy to get me out and it didn’t work. I won’t be controlled by anybody.
“I will continue to transform the SABC and nobody can stop my success. Those people who don’t know Motsoeneng must shut up.”
Motsoeneng insisted that he possessed the relevant expertise and skills needed to run the public broadcaster, saying he had done well in easing its financial woes.
He was charged with gross dishonesty on the grounds of his allegedly having claimed he had a matric certificate. He was also charged with gross misconduct and abusing his power while acting as COO. He was cleared on all three charges.
“I am a born leader, an intellectual strategist and nobody can take that away from me. I know that the majority of South Africans support Hlaudi. I want to thank Alwyn Kloppers for his testimony during my hearing. He is the man who was behind my initial appointment at the SABC. And I thank my legal team.”
Motsoeneng admitted though that the process had taken a toll on his family and himself.
Dressed in a swanky-tailored blue suit, a tense Motsoeneng sat dead still as the chairman of his disciplinary hearing Willem Edeling gave his ruling. Motsoeneng enjoyed the support of his three children as well as colleagues and friends, who were chanting outside the venue.
Edeling said after carefully reviewing the testimony of all the witnesses and applying his mind, the SABC failed to prove any of the charges and he found it hard to believe that the employer had no idea that Motsoeneng did not have a matric certificate
“Looking at this employment application form, none of the people who signed it were called to testify, I don’t know why I can only speculate that they did not sign the application,” said Edeling.
DA spokesman James Selfe on Saturday night said that his party was appalled by the decision, which he said was not surprising as not a single witness who testified before Public Protector Thuli Madonsela had been called to testify.
Selfe said the ruling “was just the beginning” as the DA would take the matter to court for a judicial review.
Sunday Independent