SABC chair ducks why he voted Hlaudi in
SABC board chairman Prof Mbulaheni Maguvhe yesterday defended the board’s decision to appoint Hlaudi Motsoeneng as COO.
Maguvhe yesterday told the ad hoc committee of MPs that is conducting an inquiry into the board’s fitness‚ that he had voted for Motsoeneng’s appointment.
When pressed on why the board took such a decision in the face of former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report‚ Maguvhe said the board was not aware that those recommendations were binding.
“It was only after the Constitutional Court ruling that they mentioned that they were binding‚” he said.
Madonsela found that Motsoeneng had lied about his matric qualification and irregularly hiked his salary from R1.5-million to R2.4-million.
She ruled that a replacement be found in 90 days. But instead Communications Minister Faith Muthambi appointed him permanent COO.
Maguvhe then told the committee that the reason he walked out of the committee last week was to consult his legal team. Maguvhe‚ his legal team, and the SABC executives including acting CEO James Aguma and Motsoeneng staged a mass walkout from committee hearing on Wednesday.
Before he testified yesterday‚ committee chairman Vincent Smith told his colleagues that Maguvhe had been originally scheduled to appear yest but had asked to appear before December 9.
“You did not appear [on December 8]. You had to be summonsed‚” Smith said. Maguvhe‚ however‚ said he was originally scheduled to appear on December 7. “Then it was moved to the 14th and that is when I indicated that from the 9th I am not available.
“On the issue of walking out‚ it was because my legal team requested an opportunity to address the committee in relation to my concerns.”
These concerns, according to Maguvhe, included that he would need legal representation; to be given documents; and to cross-examine witnesses. “My legal team could not raise those issues then I had to go out and consult them and ask what do I do.”
Maguvhe told the committee that parliament did not accommodate visually impaired people like himself.
Earlier yesterday, an SABC executive was told to apologise and withdraw a statement that the inquiry was a “kangaroo court”, while another senior executive was labelled a “pathetic liar” by angry MPs.
MPs had clearly lost their cool by the time SABC company secretary Theresa Geldenhuys gave evidence during parliament’s inquiry into the SABC.
“You have betrayed what corporate governance is all about and South Africans have witnessed someone who is a pathetic liar,” said an irate Makhosi Khoza (ANC) to Geldenhuys. Smith asked Khoza to retract her statement. She rephrased it to say she found Geldenhuys to be “someone not to be a trusted witnesses”.
Fellow MP Patrick Chauke also noted how he didn’t “find truth in all that she said” after her testimony.
Smith then chided SABC executive Mohlolo Lephaka for calling the inquiry a “kangaroo court” during a press conference after walking out of the inquiry.
“Apologise unconditionally for using parliament and kangaroo court in the same sentence,” said Smith.