SABC COO rejects media “smear campaign”

Hlaudi Motsoeneng has rejected with the “contempt it deserves” a headline insinuating that he has “no respect towards the country’s courts of law”.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation issued a statement saying its COO “noted with concern today’s article titled ‘Courts won’t stop me‚ says SABC’s ‘born leader’ published in the Sunday Times newspaper’.
“It is a malicious headline and carries a gross misrepresentation of facts‚ as it insinuates that I have no respect towards the country’s courts of law and undermine the processes thereof‚” said Motsoeneng.
The public broadcaster Corporation on Friday indicated that it will take the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA) ruling that Motsoeneng be suspended for 60 days while a disciplinary hearing into his alleged breaches of conduct is undertaken to the Constitutional Court.
Motsoeneng‚ the SABC and the communications minister were challenging an earlier high court order that upheld Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s findings that action be taken against him for receiving exorbitant salary increases and forging his matric qualification.
In Sunday’s statement‚ Motsoeneng claimed the Sunday Times interview‚ “for which electronic records were made…centred on my leadership role and work at the SABC and had nothing to do with the court case”.
“In fact questions asked around legal matters were referred to my legal advisor Zola Majavu‚ and the point that I respect the public protector and our courts was continuously reiterated‚” Motsoeneng said.
“I view this as a smear campaign by some media houses to tarnish my name and I appreciate those who are fair in their reporting.
“I view this matter in a serious light and reject it with the contempt it deserves as it’s aimed at portraying me in a bad light.”
As Motsoeneng’s statement was issued on an SABC letterhead‚ it would appear that the broadcaster has ignored a letter from the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Friday to the SABC and Motsoeneng‚ giving them until 4pm on Friday to give effect to the court-ordered suspension.
“Should Motsoeneng and the SABC’s legal representatives elect to ignore this reasonable deadline‚ the DA will file contempt of court papers in the Supreme Court of Appeal‚” the DA’s spokesperson on communications‚ Phumzile Van Damme‚ said.
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