Hlaudi loses bid to have his disciplinary hearing stopped

HLAUDI Motsoeneng’s case in the Labour Court was dismissed yesterday with costs.

The controversial former chief operating officer of the SABC approached the Labour Court to have his disciplinary hearing stopped and have the chairman‚ Nazeem Cassim‚ recuse himself.

Motsoeneng was charged with misconduct following a media conference he called last month in which he criticised the SABC’s decision to scrap the 90% local music policy which he implemented.

During the conference‚ Motsoeneng took a swipe at interim board member Krish Naidoo‚ whom he accused of “selling out”.

Last week‚ Motsoeneng’s legal team argued that the issue should rather be heard by the Commission for Conciliation‚ Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) because comments he made should be considered protected public disclosure.

This is usually a defence used when employees say they were wrongfully charged or dismissed for whistle blowing.

Labour Court Judge Stefan Coetzee, however, dismissed Motsoeneng’s application and ordered him to pay the costs of both the SABC and Cassim’s attorneys.

Motsoeneng was scheduled to appear before the disciplinary committee yesterday evening‚ but his attorney Boni Majavu said Cassim had written to them and instead requested a meeting.

Motsoeneng’s team are due to file an affidavit stating Motsoeneng’s defence by next Wednesday‚ and the matter is expected to be argued next Friday.

SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said: “Following the SABC announcement that the disciplinary hearing against Mr Motsoeneng was postponed by the chairperson of the hearing‚ due to Mr Motsoeneng interdicting the process through the Labour Court‚ the matter was heard yesterday by the court.

“The Labour Court today at dismissed the interdict.” — TMG