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I have today written to the Chairperson of the Communications Portfolio Committee, Joyce Moloi-Moropa, to request Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi, be summoned to explain the appointment of Hlaudi Motsoeneng as SABC Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Given the gravity of the decision to appoint Mr Motsoeneng, and the many unanswered questions it raises, it is imperative that the Minister accounts to the Portfolio Committee at the first available opportunity.

In a reply  to a parliamentary question received last Wednesday, Minister Muthambi said that no progress had been made in filling the COO vacancy. In the Portfolio Committee last Friday, Minister Muthambi said that she expected the appointment process for COO to be complex, but that she would nevertheless endeavour to finalise it by 16 August.

Since then the SABC Board and the Minister have acted with surprising speed to fill the COO vacancy, raising the following questions:

• What process was followed to appoint Mr Motsoeneng as COO;
• Was the position externally advertised and handled by an external recruitment agency;
• How many applicants were there;
• How many were shortlisted;
• Was any consideration given to the Public Protector’s findings that Mr Motsoeneng had lied about having a matric and had irregularly increased salaries when he was Acting COO;
• Is Mr Motsoeneng still earning the R2.4m salary that the Public Protector found he was awarded irregularly;
• Did the Board subject Mr Motsoeneng to a disciplinary hearing, as requested in section 11.3.2.1 of the Public Protector’s report;
• How much did the SABC pay former COO-designate Mvuzo Mbebe to settle the 7-year legal dispute that had hitherto prevented it from appointing a permanent COO;
• Did Mr Motsoeneng’s lawyers cite the principle of “legitimate expectation” to demand that Mr Motsoeneng be appointed permanently; and
• If so, was a legal opinion sought to test the applicability of the principle to this case?  

There is a widely held perception that the appointment of Mr Motsoeneng was irregular, illegitimate and possibly unlawful. This perception will remain until Minister Muthambi fully answers the numerous questions surrounding his appointment.