The supreme court of appeal (SCA) has dismissed the appeal against part of a high court judgment that SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng be suspended pending a disciplinary inquiry against him.
The court has also rejected part of the Western Cape high court ruling which said public protector Thuli Madonsela’s rulings were not binding.
“The SCA confirmed the finding of the court … that the SABC must institute disciplinary proceedings against Mr Motsoeneng,” it said in a statement.
“In arriving at this conclusion, however, the SCA rejected the reasoning of the court … which had concluded that the directions of the public protector were not ‘binding and enforceable’ in the same way as a court order.”
Following an application by the Democratic Alliance, the Western Cape high court ruled that Motsoeneng should be suspended for 60 days, pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing, as Madonsela had instructed.
Judge Ashton Schippers granted Motsoeneng leave to appeal, but ruled that the interim suspension should come into effect immediately.
The communications minister and the SABC were the other applicants in the appeal.
Madonsela’s report recommended action against him for receiving exorbitant salary increases and forging his matric certificate. Motsoeneng however stayed in his job. — News24