Aguma goes to court to stop SABC hearing
Suspended acting CEO says inquiry is ‘unlawful’
Suspended SABC acting CEO James Aguma intends seeking an urgent Labour Court interdict in order to stop his disciplinary hearing, which he claims is “unlawful”.
His attorney Osborne Molatudi informed the chairman of the disciplinary hearing‚ Professor Taki Madima SC, about the move yesterday.
“We have now received an instruction to launch an urgent Labour Court application challenging the lawfulness of this inquiry and‚ for the record‚ I must say that in order for us to prepare a comprehensive application‚ we have requested the employer to provide us with a transcribed record of the last sitting on June 29 2017‚” said Molatudi.
“In the absence of the written resolution and in line with your ruling‚ we now have an instruction to institute an urgent application on the basis that this inquiry is unlawful and therefore we require written undertakings that this inquiry shall not proceed.”
Molatudi said during the previous sittings‚ Madima had ruled that the SABC must provide Aguma’s legal team with the resolution taken by the public broadcaster’s interim board‚ including minutes and transcripts from meetings that took place in April and May.
The hearing, at Werksmans Attorneys in Sandton, was stalled for over four hours as Molatudi had earlier argued there was an ulterior motive for the SABC bringing four additional charges against Aguma‚ bringing the total to 10.
Madima postponed the disciplinary hearing and granted them until 10am today to file their urgent application.
Aguma was suspended in May after being accused of providing false information under oath during the disciplinary hearing against former COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng.
He has also been accused of tender irregularities and fruitless and wasteful expenditure during his tenure.