South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) acting head of corporate affairs Hlaudi Motsoeneng waxed lyrical on job creation, business economics and empowerment at an African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) KwaZulu-Natal lecture on economic freedom in Durban on Thursday night.

The agenda was set early in the evening when the ANCYL in eThekwini backed Motsoeneng to be voted onto the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) in 2017.

Motsoeneng weighed in on race relations and gave suggestions for what he would do if he were the country's president.

“There is no problem when it comes to white people. There are problems with black people. Black people are in charge and they can’t complain about transformation when they are in charge of transformation themselves,” he said.

“I am speaking as a professional and not as a politician. I can turn this country around in six months and I am honoured that you believe that,” he added.

“We as blacks are a serious problem. We don’t want black people to emerge and do well in their lives.”

He said if he were president, he would not appoint people to ministerial posts merely because they were on the NEC. He would appoint them only if he knew they could deliver.

Motsoeneng touched on the implementation of policy, saying he was not a believer in research.

“You know why we are not moving with speed in South Africa? Because we have copied the West. We are in Africa. We should have our own standard. When you do research it takes three years, and two years to implement. I don’t believe in research. It is not how I operate. If I see a problem I solve it now.”

He said there was a difference between a “certificated person” and an educated one.

“But I won’t go there,” Motsoeneng said.

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela found in a 2014 report into the SABC, titled When Governance and Ethics Fail that Motsoeneng lied about having passed matric in 1991, when he first applied to work there.

The controversial former COO said South Africans should re-examine the Freedom Charter. It was a good document, but outdated. A new Freedom Charter that people could “touch and feel” was needed.

Before Motsoeneng spoke, ANCYL eThekwini secretary general Thinta Cibane said the structure would support him to become a member of the ANC’s NEC.