SIU ‘not meant for’ SABC staff woes

The Special Investigating Unit should not be bogged down with probing promotions, appointments and salary increases at the SABC, Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo told MPs on Tuesday.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) should not be bogged down by investigating promotions, appointments and salary increases at the SABC, Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo told MPs on Tuesday.

The proposed investigation could result in a big bill for the SABC, which was already in a financial crisis, she told Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts.

Some aspects of the probe, which was recommended by the ad hoc committee investigating the SABC, could rather be done internally, Dlodlo said.

The wrongdoings that are being investigated date back to 2012. The SABC has recorded staggering losses in recent years and forecast a R1.1bn loss for the 2016-17 financial year.

The committee met the SABC and SIU in Johannesburg on Tuesday to discuss the unit’s proposed investigation into the public broadcaster. Dlodlo, who attended the meeting, did however agree the SIU should investigate large bonuses that were given to some executives.

“You getting the SIU to investigate appointments — honestly, is that what we want to do at the cost at which the SIU is going to bill us?” Dlodlo said. “[If] we want to look at promotions, that info can be done internally. But … on bonuses paid, that really requires some forensic investigation of some sort,” she said.

SIU head advocate Lekhoa Mothibi told the committee the SIU had identified six matters referred to in the ad hoc committee report and in former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, dealing with irregular appointments, promotions and bonuses.

The SIU investigation would include a probe into the bonus paid to Motsoeneng and various other staff members.

It emerged in 2016 that Motsoeneng was paid R11m for negotiating a deal with Multi Choice. The controversial R533m deal gave the private broadcaster access to the SABC’s entire archive.

Motsoeneng was dismissed from the SABC following a disciplinary hearing that found he had brought the broadcaster into disrepute.

The SIU’s investigation of the SABC is expected to be proclaimed by President Jacob Zuma by the end of June.