Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela apologises for erroneously mentioning trade union president Hannes du Buisson in her SABC report.


The Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is apologising for erroneously naming the trade union boss Hannes du Buisson, in her report released yesterday regarding maladministration at the SABC.

In the Public Protector's report she found that the SABC's famously matricless acting chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng "unilaterally increased the salaries of certain SABC staffers which added to the ballooning R29 million SABC wage bill.

The Public Protector's report released on Monday morning states that "Hlaudi Motsoeneng unilaterally increased the salaries of Sully Motsweni, Thobekile Khumalo, Hannes du Buisson and certain freelancers without following Part IV of the SABC Personnel Regulations".

Thuli Madonsela today apologised for the inclusion of Hannes du Buisson's name, and said that his name should not have been included in the final report.

The Public Protector said it "apologises for the error and possible unfounded inferences that may imply that there was any wrongdoing found against Hannes du Buisson's person."

"The mention of Hannes du Buisson in the unedited executive summary distributed on Monday was in relation to an allegation made by the complainants. However, the allegation could not be substantiated and no finding was made".

Hannes du Buisson is the president of the Broadcasting, Electronic Media, and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu).