Communications Minister Faith Muthambi has defended her decision to permanently appoint Hlaudi Motsoeneng as the the SABC’s chief operating officer in a petition filed with the SCA yesterday (Thursday), says a report in The Citizen. Muthambi is seeking special leave from the SCA to appeal against a ruling by Judge Dennis Davis in the Western Cape High Court setting aside Motsoeneng’s appointment as irrational and unlawful. The judge in May dismissed an application for leave to appeal against his ruling. In 2015 he ruled that information before Muthambi at the time of Motsoeneng’s promotion had been muddled and unclear and put her in no position to exercise a rational decision to elevate him. The ruling followed an application by the DA based on Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings ag ainst Motsoeneng in a 2014 report, including that he had fabricated his matric qualifications and increased his salary irregularly from R1.5m to R2.4m a year. In an affidavit filed with the SCA, Muthambi said the matter should be heard by a higher court as it raised important questions about the manner in which political functionaries could exercise their public powers and statutory duties in the face of factual findings and recommendations of remedial action by the Public Protector. She said the ruling had implications for all decision-makers in government and that the interest of justice required leave to appeal to be granted. Muthambi maintained that Davis had erred ‘as a matter of logic and law’ in concluding that the Public Protector’s remedial recommendations and findings were binding and that, on that basis alone, her decision was irrational and unlawful. She alleged the court’s decision had been based on a number of errors of fact in relation to her conduct.

Full report in The Citizen  

The SABC is ‘still satisfied’ with the services rendered by Motsoeneng, according to board chairperson Mbulaheni Obert Maguvhe in an affidavit lodged at the SCA. Maguvhe also said that Motsoeneng was a ‘fit and proper’ person to be appointed and that the Public Protector had also indicated that the position had long been outstanding and ought to be filled, notes a City Press report. He also argued that Motsoeneng had been employed at the SABC since 1995 and that ‘there was no evidence, statutory or otherwise, that a matric certificate was a requirement for the post’.

Full City Press report

© Daily News