The SABC has welcomed a judgement by the High Court in Johannesburg ordering former SABC Chief Operations Officer, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, to repay over R850 000 in legal fees.
The public broadcaster footed the bill while Motsoeneng was still employed as its COO.
The Special Investing Unit (SIU) found several irregularities, including the unlawful use of SABC funds for Motsoeneng’s legal battles.
The SIU together with the SABC approached the High Court to recover the money.
“The SABC welcomes the judgement by the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division, in relation to Mr. Hlaudi Motsoeneng. The organisation appreciates the work which has been done by the SIU, in assisting the public broadcaster to recoup monies which were unlawfully gained,” says the spokesperson for the public broadcaster, Mmoni Seapolelo.
Motsoeneng is one of the former SABC executives who are blamed for the public broadcaster’s financial woes.
In 2018, former SABC board member Krish Naidoo told the CCMA that Motsoeneng’s unilateral implementation of the 90% on-air local music content led to the loss of R300 million in advertising revenue.
The former SABC COO has also taken flak for the public broadcaster’s controversial multi-million rand contract with MultiChoice, which gave the pay-TV company access to the organisation’s archives.
In the video below, former SABC CEO Lulama Mokhobo testifies about that deal:
Motsoeneng has, nonetheless, denied sinking the public broadcaster.
