DA to ask High Court to declare Motsoeneng’s new appointment invalid
by Genevieve Quintal
2016-10-10 14:33:19.0
THE DA will once again approach the High Court in Cape Town in a bid to have the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as SABC group executive of corporate affairs declared invalid.
DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said the party had consulted its legal counsel and had decided to ask the court to order that Motsoeneng was not a "fit and proper person" to hold any position at the public broadcaster.
"The DA also has concerns about the legitimacy of the constitution of the SABC board itself and whether its conduct is compliant with the prescripts of the Broadcasting Act which governs it.
"As such, the DA will also be asking the courts to make a determination of the suitability of the incumbent board and proffer legal certainty on how the board is to be dissolved and a new one appointed."
Last week, the High Court in Cape Town dismissed an application by the SABC for a stay of a DA court case to review and set aside the disciplinary proceedings instituted against Motsoeneng.
The disciplinary inquiry was one of the remedial actions directed by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her report When Governance and Ethics Fail.
The SABC had asked for a stay of the DA’s application to set it aside, pending its own court application to review Madonsela’s findings.
Motsoeneng lost his job as SABC chief operating officer in September after the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed his application for leave to appeal against a High Court in Cape Town judgment that had set aside his permanent appointment.
The SABC then announced that it had re-appointed Motsoeneng to his previous post of group executive for corporate affairs.
Last week Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications resolved to institute an inquiry into the fitness of the SABC board to hold office.
This was after two members of the board, Krish Naidoo and Vusi Mavuso, resigned in disgust, saying the board was dysfunctional and that they had been sidelined.
MPs gave the remaining four board members an ultimatum: quit or be forced out through a parliamentary inquiry as soon as the end of October.
Selfe on Monday said it was never ideal to approach the courts on these matters but it had become necessary in the face of "uncooperative government agencies" that were not acting in the public interest.
Hlaudi Motsoeneng. Picture: BUSINESS DAY
THE DA will once again approach the High Court in Cape Town in a bid to have the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as SABC group executive of corporate affairs declared invalid.
DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said the party had consulted its legal counsel and had decided to ask the court to order that Motsoeneng was not a "fit and proper person" to hold any position at the public broadcaster.
"The DA also has concerns about the legitimacy of the constitution of the SABC board itself and whether its conduct is compliant with the prescripts of the Broadcasting Act which governs it.
"As such, the DA will also be asking the courts to make a determination of the suitability of the incumbent board and proffer legal certainty on how the board is to be dissolved and a new one appointed."
Last week, the High Court in Cape Town dismissed an application by the SABC for a stay of a DA court case to review and set aside the disciplinary proceedings instituted against Motsoeneng.
The disciplinary inquiry was one of the remedial actions directed by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela in her report When Governance and Ethics Fail.
The SABC had asked for a stay of the DA’s application to set it aside, pending its own court application to review Madonsela’s findings.
Motsoeneng lost his job as SABC chief operating officer in September after the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed his application for leave to appeal against a High Court in Cape Town judgment that had set aside his permanent appointment.
The SABC then announced that it had re-appointed Motsoeneng to his previous post of group executive for corporate affairs.
Last week Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications resolved to institute an inquiry into the fitness of the SABC board to hold office.
This was after two members of the board, Krish Naidoo and Vusi Mavuso, resigned in disgust, saying the board was dysfunctional and that they had been sidelined.
MPs gave the remaining four board members an ultimatum: quit or be forced out through a parliamentary inquiry as soon as the end of October.
Selfe on Monday said it was never ideal to approach the courts on these matters but it had become necessary in the face of "uncooperative government agencies" that were not acting in the public interest.
