HLAUDI: A man for all seasons
The adversaries the embattled SABC big man is fighting remind one of the battles of another public figure, writes
‘HLAUDI is going to show them! Yes, we are tired of them! That brother must show them the eyes of a worm!”
Then loud guffaws of laughter will ensue, followed by a lot of backslapping and high fives as the conversationalists toast the health of Hlaudi — a single-name celebrity, like Prince, Madonna, Cher.
But as the men get down to the nitty-gritty of the subject at hand — yes, it’s usually men, black men — it will soon dawn on them that although they think Hlaudi is their hero, they are not necessarily singing from the same hymn book.
For a start, they cannot agree as to the identity of The Other.
Who are They? Is it the public protector, whose orders Hlaudi has defied with impunity? Is it the SABC board, which Hlaudi treats with the respect that the ordinary person would reserve for a doormat?
Who are They? Is it the DA, which has been at the forefront of legal challenges as to the desirability of Hlaudi as leader of the SABC? Or, indeed, is it the highly educated SABC journalists who Hlaudi has fired while laughing — “Your degrees can’t work for you”?
Who are They? Are we talking of the ANC, which days after distancing itself from Hlaudi had egg all over its face when he was reappointed as group executive for corporate affairs?
Who are They? Are They the urban elite who, to their own peril, continue to undermine people like Hlaudi?
Who are They? Are we talking about bitter white people who cannot stomach an outspoken, wellpaid, influential black man?
My sense is that They are a composite of all of the above — and more. Hlaudi himself has given us some clues as to the identity of his adversaries, as he did at an SABC press conference this week.
“Everywhere I go everyone supports Hlaudi, it’s worse in the rural areas. I’m here in Gauteng to change the mindset [of] people who believe if you come from rural areas you can’t achieve.”
There’s a familiar ring to this line. Do we not remember how, in November 2012, that other famous son of the soil excoriated black people “who become too clever”, saying “they become the most eloquent in criticising themselves about their own traditions and everything”?
Like Hlaudi, President Jacob Zuma has not hesitated to use public platforms to show he is the salt of the earth, someone who gets harangued at every turn for the simple reason that he is unencumbered by too much education. A man of the people.
It is tempting to draw parallels between narratives of Hlaudi and Zuma for the simple reason that they have portrayed themselves as victims of political conspiracies and have succeeded in drawing public sympathy, even as they bulldoze their way to their desired destination — the top, where they get lauded as heroes.
Zuma got fired from his position as deputy president after he got implicated in the corruption trial of his erstwhile financial adviser Schabir Shaik. In his bid to make a comeback, he used both public sympathy and the courts.
In 2006, after his acquittal on rape charges, Zuma enlisted the services of Jurg Prinsloo to deal with what he called “crucifixion by the media”. His intention was to sue numerous media organisations, to the tune of hundreds of millions of rands.
He said: “For a period of five years my person has been subjected to all types of allegations and innuendo, paraded through the media and other corridors of influence without these allegations having being [sic] tested. I have thereby been denied my constitutional right to reply and defend myself.”
Zuma later withdrew the defamation suits. But he had made his point: it can be argued that he was buoyed to the high office on the wave of public sympathy.
Hlaudi, when it emerged that he had lied about his educational qualifications, faced being kicked out of his post. But he was not about to go without a fight.
While his legal fight dragged on, like Zuma before him, Hlaudi moved fast to curry favour with interest groups that mattered.
He decreed that footage showing violent protests against the government were not to be flighted on SABC TV.
It was he who came up with the 90% local music quota on SABC stations, gaining immediate public approval from local musicians and many members of the public. Local content had always been an emotive issue. And Hlaudi knew this.
After a decision by the High Court in Cape Town, which ruled that his appointment as chief operating officer was unlawful and invalid, his legal team filed a bid with the Supreme Court of Appeal to allow him to appeal.
After losing the bid, Hlaudi was back at the offices of the SABC, amid growing confusion over the legality of this very act.
His lawyer, Zola Majavu, who, unlike his client is reticent and unassuming, shed some light: “This decision doesn’t mean he [Hlaudi] lost, but his employers did. We wrote a letter to the board on an urgent basis, asking them to inform my client what the next step would be. My client did not hire himself and the board that did will have to give him a way forward.”
And the board did give Hlaudi a way forward this week — by giving him his old job, as group executive for corporate affairs.
As chief operating officer, he was earning R3.7-million a year. Media reports show that last week he was paid a bonus of R11.4-million for his handling of the deal with MultiChoice to create SABC channels on DStv.
At the conference this week, Hlaudi did not dispute the reports about this windfall, only saying: “I’m not going there. Don’t spoil the party, man.”
At the same conference — where he made it known that he was going to reapply for the job of chief operating officer — Hlaudi said: “I believe in myself. I believe everywhere that I am I do miracles. And I am going to do those miracles in the position that I am going to occupy.”
Arrogance? Chutzpah? Delusions of grandeur? Maybe it’s plain old self-confidence and hard work that keep Hlaudi rooted where he is, no matter how hard his detractors try to dislodge him.
Maybe he is the misunderstood hero. If he, indeed, is a hero — as he does not hesitate to remind us — what kind of hero is he?
Maybe he is Rambo, who, in the clutches of post-traumatic stress, goes on the rampage as he seeks to put things right, to institute his own version of justice?
Or could he be Don Corleone, who ingratiates himself with the common people by fighting some of their battles — local musicians have benefited from his 90% local music content on public radio — while in the process feathering his own nest?
Or is he Prometheus, the Greek deity who got pilloried and incarcerated because he had stolen fire from the gods on Mount Olympus to give mankind — in this case Hlaudi stealing fire from the elites to give to the common man who will not stand by as his government and president are being made fun of on public TV?
Or is he an accidental beneficiary of public sympathy in a country that — September 28 2016 — Compiled by Fred Khumalo always favours the underdog — no matter the issues, or the scruples of the person in question?
Perhaps we are skirting around issues here. Perhaps Hlaudi is a willing proxy in the vast and complicated game of state capture by those who have an interest in the control of the airwaves; those who seek to capture all sectors of influence and populate these with people who will not deviate from the script prepared for them?
But there’s one thing for sure: this is not the last you hear from, or of, Hlaudi.
Khumalo’s new book, “#ZuptasMustFall and Other Rants”, is now available Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.sundaytimes.co.za