The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein has dismissed with costs an application by Hlaudi Motsoeneng, former SABC chief operations officer, to appeal the order of the South Gauteng High Court, declaring the decision of the then SABC Board to pay him R11.5 million as unlawful and invalid.

In August 2016, the then SABC Board took a decision to pay Motsoeneng a success fee for clinching the MultiChoice deal.

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Two years later, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the SABC jointly brought summonses against Motsoeneng to the High Court to recover the success fee.

In December 2021, the High Court reviewed and set aside the former board’s decision and found that it was unlawful and invalid. The High Court ordered Motsoeneng to repay more than R11.5 million within seven days of the order, with interest at the rate of 15,5% per annum calculated from 13 September 2016 to date of payment.

The SIU says it welcomes the order of the Supreme Court of Appeal as it paves the way to recover the financial losses suffered by the SABC because of unlawful and invalid decisions.

The Citizen