Legal representative Jabu Motepe says former SABC Chief Operating Officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng did not secure private funding to pay artists as he had claimed.
Motepe has been making submissions to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU)’s special tribunal, which is hearing a review application in the matter between Motsoeneng and the public broadcaster.
The SABC and the SIU are seeking to recover R2.5 million that Motsoeneng and former executives paid to some music legends in royalties in 2016.
The two parties want the decision to award R50 000 each to about 50 musicians set aside and declared invalid.
Motepe says all the money came from the SABC.
“Mr Motsoeneng says he raised the money from private sources, including from MultiChoice. That is not true. We have a letter from MultiChoice and we have affidavits from people from finance who say there were never private funds. All the monies were paid from the SABC; they came out from the SABC. None of the decision-makers evaluated all those facts, they simply approved,” Motepe explains.
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In December 2021, the Johannesburg High Court ruled that the former SABC COO should repay R11.5 million to the public broadcaster with interest.
Motsoaneng was said to have been paid the staggering amount for brokering a deal with MultiChoice for broadcast rights, including access to the SABC archives.
He was also instructed to pay 15.5% interest dating back to 2016.
The ruling comes after the South Gauteng High Court declared the payment made to Motsoeneng unlawful and invalid.
