Thorn in Motsoeneng’s side gets SABC job back

A TOP SABC official has been reinstated after she was dismissed from the troubled public broadcaster after she refused to pay controversial former chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s R11 million bonus.

The Labour Court in Johannesburg found chief financial controller Maria Campher’s dismissal was procedurally and substantively unfair after she was told there was “no room” for her in its structure.

“The SABC is ordered to reinstate Ms Campher to the same or similar position to the one she occupied before her dismissal and on the same or similar terms and conditions of employment with effect from 1 May 2018,” reads Judge Portia Nkutha-Nkontwana’s ruling.

She said the public broadcaster must pay Campher full backpay for the period between 1 May 2018 and the date of the order, which was granted on June 25, as well as the costs of the lawsuit.

Campher was offered a five-year contract in May 2013 as the chief financial controller position.

The offer was rescinded after the SABC’s group employee advised her that the broadcaster intended to terminate her services because there was no room for her in its structure.

Campher was served with a letter dated October 25, 2016, notifying her that the SABC had resolved to terminate the employment relationship and pay her for the balance of her fixedterm contract, which was 18 months.

She was paid out nearly R1.8m but later referred the matter to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), where she sought reinstatement.

However, Campher was unsuccessful in conciliation and her matter was referred to arbitration.

At the CCMA, she argued that her dismissal was due to her being the stumbling block to the approval of certain bonus payments to Motsoeneng as well as the exorbitant professional fees to SABC contractors.

She repeatedly drew the attention of senior management to her concern about the SABC’s solvency.

At the Labour Court, Campher said her contract was terminated because she was viewed as an obstacle to the payment of bonuses to Motsoeneng, which was not supported by evidence, according to the presiding CCMA commissioner.

Campher said that if had she not queried Motsoeneng’s bonus her contract would not have been prematurely terminated.

Judge Nkutha-Nkontwana’s accepted Campher’s evidence.

Attempts to contact Motsoeneng were unsuccessful yesterday and the SABC did not respond to Independent Media’s enquiries.

The SABC eventually instituted a successful lawsuit at the South Gauteng High Court to block Motsoeneng’s pension payout until its action to recover the R11m had been heard.