I will keep doing my job - Motsoeneng

14 December 2015

Pretoria – SA Broadcasting Corporation COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng says he is delighted at the outcome of an internal disciplinary hearing that cleared him of all charges on Saturday.

Motsoeneng was facing three charges, which included lying about having a matric certificate.

After being cleared by chairperson of the hearing, Advocate Willem Edeling, Motsoeneng said he was happy to continue with his job. 

Speaking to News24, he said, "I am happy about the outcome. I will keep doing what I’m doing and working. I will keep doing my job."

Asked what his view was regarding his detractors who kept bringing his qualifications into the fray, he said he was not their spokesperson and did not want to comment on the matter further.

His lawyer, advocate Zola Majavu said earlier he never doubted his client.

“I am happy for my client and wish him well in all his endeavours,” said Majavu.

In reading his judgment, Edeling said he was particularly impressed with the testimony of the man who had recruited Motsoeneng, Alwyn Kloppers.

"He was the witness who impressed me the most. He was firm and, sometimes quite agitated, but the way in which he presented himself... He recruited Mr Motsoeneng. He saw talent in him... He thought it his duty to testify in this hearing to tell the public what had transpired at the time."

Edeling went on to say that he had accepted Kloppers's version as the "correct version".

In his testimony, Kloppers had reportedly told the hearing that he had first met Motsoeneng outside a government building in Qwa-Qwa in 1993.

"I was approached by a young man and he asked me whether I was with the SABC. He introduced himself as Hlaudi Motsoeneng."

He said Motsoeneng had apparently told him he was a freelancer and was interested in permanent employment at the SABC.

Kloppers told the hearing that Motsoeneng had made it "very clear" at the time that he did not have a matric.

Edeling said the only person who had really pointed a finger at Motsoeneng was Paul Tati, the human resource manager at the SABC in 1996.

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.