HLAUDI Motsoeneng yesterday admitted he had made mistakes.
“I’m not an angel,” the former SABC chief operating officer said at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry. “I’m a human being. I made mistakes.”
Motsoeneng said it was not fair to blame him for everything wrong that happened at the SABC.
“You have doctors, professors and lawyers on the board. Are these people stupid to be taken in by a matric-less guy to do something?” he asked.
“The way people put it, Hlaudi was the SABC and the board.”
Motsoeneng said it was also not true the SABC lost R5 billion under his leadership because of reckless expenditure.
He said he was wrongly blamed for playing a role in irregular appointments at the public broadcaster.
“There is no way that Hlaudi can wake up in the morning and appoint someone. Human relations can say no because it’s the gatekeeper for such matters. I have pain about this malicious gathering of information because it is incorrect,” he said.
In August, the SABC filed an application with the Labour Court to have irregular appointments set aside.
SABC spokeswoman Vuyo Mthembu said: “The application follows recommendations of the reports of the public protector and the parliamentary ad hoc committee, as well as the SABC’s internal investigation on irregular appointments.”
Motsoeneng told the commission the SABC collapsed only after he left.
He said he managed to negotiate with MultiChoice to carry five SABC channels on its bouquet at no cost to the public broadcaster and ensured sport was shown live on SABC.
“Look now, there are blackouts instead,” said Motsoeneng.
