The Sunday Independent's Moffat Mofokeng - a newspaper with a long strong insider's list of SABC sources very similar to mine - has a front page lead story today that's set to stir the pot with speculation that Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the extremely controversial SABC executive is going to be appointed as the permanent new chief operating officer (COO) of the struggling South African public broadcaster.
Hlaudi Motsoeneng's real job is as executive looking after stakeholder relations and provinces, although he has been appointed as acting COO and as acting group CEO at the SABC last year despite not having a matric certificate; never having finished matric; and lied about it according to a KPMG report that investigated irregularities at the broadcaster.
The COO position is the second most powerful position at the SABC and at other South African companies are filled by highly qualified executives who hold several academic qualifications and MBAs.
If Hlaudi Motsoeneng indeed is appointed as the SABC's permanent COO as the Sunday Independent speculates - a position long vacant at the broadcaster the past 4 years - the SABC will likely be the only billion rand corporation in South Africa where a top executive gets a job worth R2 million a year never having ever finished grade 12.
If this happens, the SABC will likely tout Hlaudi Motsoeneng's on the job experiential learning and skills acquired whilst working there as things making him suitable to be COO.
The SABC started to advertise the position of COO at the SABC on Friday. According to the Sunday Independent the position has only been advertised internally (I haven't seen it) and people only have until Tuesday to apply. Incredulously, no matric certificate is needed; neither is any mention of any academic qualifications made.
Personally I haven't heard anything or asked anybody about the speculation that Hlaudi Motsoeneng is apparently a shoe-in for the position but it will definitely spark a fresh row of comment about the SABC's ongoing apparent lack of strong top executive leadership, vacant positions and what the standards of executive excellence - or lack of it - at the public broadcaster is.
