SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng believes a disciplinary hearing scheduled for the end of the month will exonerate him.
“I have no doubt that I will be found not guilty of the charges that have been instituted against me,” he said in an affidavit.
The affidavit accompanied an application to the constitutional court for leave to appeal a recent supreme court of appeal (SCA) judgment, specifically regarding his suspension.
The SCA upheld a Western Cape high court order by Judge Ashton Schippers that he be suspended for 60 days while a disciplinary hearing into his alleged malfeasance was conducted.
The Western Cape high court is currently hearing an application by the Democratic Alliance to have Motsoeneng’s appointment set aside.
Motsoeneng indicated in the affidavit that the SABC on Monday delivered a charge sheet to him and a notice to attend a disciplinary hearing on 30 October.
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said on Wednesday that they would not divulge the charges as the matter was between “employer and employee”.
Motsoeneng stated under oath that the relief granted by Schippers went beyond the remedial action taken by public protector Thuli Madonsela, in her report into governance at the SABC, “When Governance and Ethics Fail”.
Madonsela found he lied about having a matric certificate, and that both his appointment as acting chief operating officer and his one-year salary hike from R1,5m to R2,4m were irregular.
“While I have the utmost respect for the office of the public protector and the position it occupies in our constitutional democracy, I nevertheless, with respect, dispute many of the findings contained in the report,” Motsoeneng stated.
He believed the SCA had extended its reach and effectively found him guilty at the least of misrepresenting his qualifications to the SABC in 1995, “ignoring clear evidence to the contrary”.
He appealed to the constitutional court to be given the chance to clear his name.
The SABC and communications minister Faith Muthambi are listed as co-applicants. — News24