Respect our institutions

THE appointment if Hlaudi Motsoeneng to the position of chief operations officer of the SABC is highly controversial and smacks of an illegal appointment. The Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, recommended that he be removed from his post. He misrepresented his qualifications stating he had passed matric whereas he only passed standard eight. He also granted himself irregular salary increases where his salary increased from R1,5 million to R2.4 million in one year. The Public Protector recommended that he be replaced within 90 days from the release of her report. The SABC board did not even institute a disciplinary hearing in respect of the accusations and findings levelled against him. If our chapter 9 institutions are going to be disregarded, disrespected and undermined then ultimately our democracy is in serious trouble. If recommendations in these reports are not going to be acted upon then they will remain toothless entities. The recommendations of the Nkandla saga rage on with no end in sight and now the Motsoeneng appointment seems to be politically motivated. The critical point in the appointment of personnel into high profile positions is their educational qualifications and more importantly their skills to execute their job descriptions productively. Merely pushing through an appointment like what the communications Minister Faith Muthambi did will not assist the course of our country. Corruption is a cancer that is sucking away the life blood of the nation. Is there anybody brave enough in power to tackle this issue head on?

VIJAY SURUJPAL

Phoenix