HLAUDI Motsoeneng might be facing yet another disciplinary hearing.
This time the former SABC chief operations officer is in hot water over a two-hour media conference he held last week during which he slammed the SABC interim board, Parliament and the government.
Parliament’s communications committee met yesterday with the interim board, when MPs were briefed on “why Motsoeneng was entertained” and allowed to hold the conference.
Deputy chairman of the interim board Mathatha Tsedu told the committee the matter was being taken seriously.
SABC acting CEO James Aguma said Motsoeneng’s utterances at the conference were grounds for a disciplinary process.
“He has been sent a letter in this regard,” Aguma said.
The deadline for his response was Monday, the committee heard, but by 4pm it had not received a response.
Tsedu said while Motsoeneng had contravened the public broadcaster’s code of conduct he could not be summarily dismissed without due process.
“But we are aware of the seriousness of the matter.”
He said Motsoeneng was not “a one man army” and everyone who was part of the army would have to face the music.
ANC MP Mziwamadoda Kalako minced no words when he said people “should not be allowed to run amok in a mental hospital”.
“They can’t be running around naked and jumping (out of) windows. And really, Hlaudi is a lunatic,” he said.
He questioned whether Motsoeneng was even still an employee of the public broadcaster, but this was confirmed by Tsedu.
MPs questioned how an employee paid by the SABC could be allowed to attack the SABC from its own platform.
ANC MP Sisisi Tolashe said “the short man was insulting everyone” and the time had come to assess how the public broadcaster had got to that point.
“It’s like we are in Hollywood and he is acting. This must stop,” he said.
The DA’s Phumzile van Damme insisted that the defiant Motsoeneng face the consequences of his actions soon. – NEWS24
