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Hlaudi Motsoeneng, chief operating officer of the SABC, was back in court yesterday, arguing for a stay of court processes pending the outcome of a review of the findings of the Public Protector – more than two years later.
The SABC has asked the Western Cape High Court to stop an earlier lawsuit from the Democratic Alliance pending the outcome of his application for review.
The application for review has been filed in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. Its purpose was for the court to review and set aside the findings of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her report “When Governance and Ethics Fail”, which was published on February 17 2014.
In the Western Cape High Court, the DA and the Public Protector opposed the latest stay application by the SABC yesterday saying it should be dismissed with costs in the light of the Constitutional Court’s Nkandla judgment, which clearly spelled out the powers of the Public Protector.
Both parties agreed that the time allowed for the SABC to bring the review application in the North Gauteng had expired long ago.
Advocate Anton Katz, SC, for the DA described the stay application as “one of the worst abuses of court processes”.
Advocate Etienne Labuschagne, SC, for the Public Protector argued that, should the application be allowed, it would undermine the effectiveness of the Public Protector, as well as the Constitution.
In the application, the SABC argued that the issues of the DA’s review application would be affected if the Pretoria high court upheld the broadcaster’s application for review.
It would therefore, according to the SABC, not be in the interests of justice and the “convenient” way forward would be if they waited for the outcome of the North Gauteng High Court.
Madonsela recommended in her report in 2014 that disciplinary action be taken against Motsoeneng because his appointment was unlawful.
The Public Protector also found that Motsoeneng indicated on his application that he had a matric certificate, though he did not have one, and that he also illegally increased his salary from R1.5 million to R2.4 million within a year.
Motsoeneng’s battle to retain his job at the broadcaster has dragged on for more than two years.
In November 2015, The Western Cape High Court ruled that his appointment was irrational and unlawful, and must be set aside.
Motsoeneng was back in court in May to apply for leave to appeal, but the Western Cape High Court upheld its earlier ruling that his appointment was irrational and dismissed the SABC and Motsoeneng’s application for leave to appeal.
At the time, Motsoeneng vowed to take his fight to the Constitutional Court if need be.
Judgment in the stay application was reserved.
