Hlaudi Motsoeneng. Picture: RUSSELL ROBERTS
Hlaudi Motsoeneng. Picture: RUSSELL ROBERTS

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ADVOCATE William Mukhari has ruled that Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s disciplinary hearing be terminated pending the outcome of a court appeal challenging the setting aside of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) chief operating officer’s appointment.

Mr Mukhari, who is chairman of the disciplinary panel, delivered the ruling on Thursday and cited the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) and SABC’s court proceedings as a "material intervening factor in … this disciplinary inquiry in that the order (handed down by the Western Cape High Court) has set aside the appointment of Mr Motsoeneng as chief operating officer of the SABC".

The High Court order has rendered the hearing "academic", said Mr Mukhari.

However, it remains unclear what Mr Motsoeneng’s title is at the state broadcaster and the SABC is yet to provide clarity on the issue.

The chief operating officer was charged with gross dishonesty and abuse of his position for lying about having a matric certificate, inflating his salary from R1.5m to R2.4m in one year and purging staff at the broadcaster.

"It is not clear to me why these two parallel processes (court case and hearing) were allowed to continue together given that the conclusion of one of them first could effectively extinguish the other … Insofar as the disciplinary inquiry is concerned, I appreciate the predicament the SABC was confronted with because it was a court order which obliged the broadcaster to convene (it) on pain of contempt of court if it failed to do so," said Mr Mukhari.

Judge Dennis Davis ruled last week that Mr Motsoeneng’s appointment as chief operating officer be set aside.

Mr Motsoeneng’s hearing began at the end of October, but was suddenly halted after the SABC recalled labour lawyer Sandile July as the lead prosecutor in the matter and said his appointment was not regular.