MultiChoice deal, Hlaudi’s pay on SABC inquiry agenda

Hlaudi Motsoeneng's salary is among the key issues to be probed by a parliamentary inquiry into the SABC board.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng's salary is among the key issues to be probed by a parliamentary inquiry into the SABC board.

Published Nov 16, 2016

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Parliament - A controversial deal giving pay-TV operator MultiChoice the pick of the SABC’s archives, the axing of three board members, the failure to implement Public Protector remedial actions, procurement of a R42 million digital studio, and salary increases and bonuses for Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

These are among the key issues to be probed by a parliamentary inquiry into the SABC board.

Communications Minister Faith Muthambi, former public protector Thuli Madonsela and acting SABC politics editor Sophie Mokoena, along with ex-SABC board members and current staff, are among the 30-plus witnesses on a list approved by the ad hoc committee established to conduct the inquiry.

They were due to receive notices of the hearings - set to get under way on November 29 - on Wednesday.

Committee chairperson Vincent Smith said among the documents to be requested from the SABC were minutes and transcripts of subcommittee and board meetings at which decisions to procure the services of Vision View - relating to the studio - were taken.

These would include the documents containing the approval of the MultiChoice deal, the removal of board members Ronnie Lubisi, Rachel Kalidass and the late Hope Zinde, and approval of salaries and bonuses paid to Motsoeneng.

Former SABC chief executive Frans Matlala alleged after he was suspended he was being persecuted for co-operating with a National Treasury investigation into the Vision View deal.

Lubisi, Kalidass and Zinde are believed to have been axed over their resistance to the appointment of Motsoeneng as permanent chief operating officer as well as objections to the MultiChoice deal.

The deal controversially obliged the SABC to produce an entertainment channel for broadcast on the DStv platform, comprising its archive material, which critics said was worth far more than the R533m paid for it.

The agreement also obliged the SABC not to encrypt any of its channels, dealing a blow to broadcasters like e.tv, which had been lobbying for encryption to be part of the government’s digital migration policy.

Smith said the committee would request minutes and transcripts of the board’s consideration of an implementation plan in response to Madonsela’s report on the SABC.

She had also required disciplinary steps to be taken against Motsoeneng and for money to be recovered from those responsible for irregular salary increases and bonuses awarded to him and other staff.

Instead, the board recommended that Motsoeneng - then the acting chief operating officer - be appointed on a permanent basis and subsequently approved further salary increases.

The SABC also appointed him as group executive for corporate affairs after the Supreme Court of Appeal confirmed a previous order setting aside his appointment as chief operating officer.

Smith said the committee would require all the documents to be handed over by Monday.

It is due to begin hearings on November 29, and Smith said it would try to conclude its business before Parliament’s recess on December 9.

With the resignations of two of the three remaining board members - Vuyo Mhlakaza and Aaron Tshidzumba - only board chairperson Obert Maghuve remains as a non-executive director.

Political Bureau

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