SABC abruptly cancels disciplinary hearing of its controversial COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng with no outcome; SABC 'hell-bent on reducing disciplinary to a sham'.

The SABC on Thursday abruptly cancelled the twice postponed disciplinary hearing of its controversial and famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The SABC has given no reason as to why the disciplinary hearing was terminated, nor what will be happening with Hlaudi Motsoeneng who has not been suspended but went on a "voluntary leave of absence".

The unstable public broadcaster that continues to lurch from crisis to crisis is not just without a COO but also a CEO - it's CEO Frans Matlala was abruptly suspended in mid-November just five months after he was appointed.

The disciplinary hearing which finally got underway on 2 December in Sandton was abruptly cancelled a day later with the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing, advocate William Mokhari saying to proceed with a disciplinary hearing would be merely "academic".

The disciplinary hearing was supposed to start at the end of October but was then suddenly postponed to 1 December. The SABC also suddenly got rid of labour lawyer Sandile July as the lead prosecutor in the hearing, replaced by Mpoyana Ledwaba as the SABC's pro-forma prosecutor.

The disciplinary hearing was then again postponed to 2 December and suddenly ended yesterday after two days with no outcome and no indication of where it leaves Hlaudi Motsoeneng who was never actually suspended by the SABC but who went on leave.

William Mokhari said the Western Cape High Court's judgement this past Friday that set aside Hlaudi Motsoeneng's appointment as permanent COO of the SABC became a material intervening factor in proceeding with a disciplinary hearing.

Besides the Western Cape High Court Case, Hlaudi Motsoeneng is also embroiled in another court case. In that case, the Supreme Court of Appeal in October dismissed Hlaudi Motsoeneng's appeal against another high court judgment.

That court judgment from the Supreme Court of Appeal underscored the previous court judgment that the SABC, in line with the findings of the Public Protector's report in February 2014, must start disciplinary proceedings against Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The Public Protector in February 2014 in a scathing report entitled When Governance and Ethics Fail, implicated Hlaudi Motsoeneng in maladministration and abuse of power at the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

The Public Protector found that Hlaudi Motsoeneng lied about having matric and made up symbols for a certificate he knew he couldn't produce, said that he "should never have been appointed at the SABC".

Hlaudi Motsoeneng was implicated as having been involved in getting rid of everyone who testified against him in an earlier disciplinary hearing at the SABC, and his salary increased from R1.5 million to R2.4 million at the SABC in one year.

"It is not clear to me why these two parallel processes [the high court case and the disciplinary hearing] were allowed to continue together given that the conclusion of one of them first could effectively extinguish the other," said William Mukhari after terminating the disciplinary hearing.

"As far as the disciplinary inquiry is concerned, I appreciate the predicament the SABC was confronted with because it was a court order which obliged the broadcaster to convene on pain of contempt of court if it failed to do so," said William Mukhari.

William Mukhari told SABC News that the SABC "will always be at liberty to decide at an appropriate time whether to proceed with the disciplinary inquiry".

After the abrupt termination of Hlaudi Motsoeneng's disciplinary hearing, his lawyer Zola Majavu said "we are in limbo as the SABC has not pronounced where he stands. If the employer decides not to discipline him, they must decide where he stands so that we can look at his labour rights".

Zola Majavu told the SABC that "there would be nothing illegal about him reporting [back] for duty at the SABC on Friday because he went on voluntary leave, he was not on suspension."

"In any event the basis of the voluntary leave was to allow the disciplinary hearing to proceed. It has now been terminated not by himself, not by the SABC but by the presiding chairman."

In a statement the Democratic Alliance (DA) political party said it will now proceed with contempt proceedings against the SABC.

"It is utterly preposterous to suggest, as the SABC now does, that two separate judgments, both requiring serious and immediate sanction of Hlaudi Motsoeneng, cancel one another out, having the result that he should return to work as COO."

"The suggestion is so absurd and baseless in law that it confirms that the SABC is hell-bent on ensuring that this disciplinary process is reduced to a sham," says the DA.

"The vexatious endeavour to shield Hlaudi Motsoeneng from accountability at all costs is the gold standard of contempt and disdain for due process by a state entity."

BREAKING. SABC's controversial boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng suddenly goes on 'voluntary leave' before his disciplinary hearing set for 30 October.

The SABC's controversial and famously matricless chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng is gone ... as in suddenly went on leave.

The embattled COO of the South African public broadcaster went on a self-imposed "leave of absence" on Friday - apparently without the SABC's even knowing about it when asked.

SABc spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago told City Press on Friday night that he wasn't aware that Hlaudi Motsoeneng had left.

"I don't know if he has gone on voluntary leave. I am not aware. We don't have a category like that at the SABC, voluntary leave," said Kaizer Kganyago.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng's leave of absence follows after he was charged with alleged extreme dishonest in faking qualifications, extreme dishonesty in misleading the SABC, abuse of power as COO, abuse of position as acting COO, gross misconduct, as well as abuse of position as acting COO of allegedly firing senior staff members who had a different opinion than him.

These charges are contained in the charge sheet the SABC served on its second highest ranking executive who has to appear at a disciplinary hearing on 30 October.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng has not been suspended by the SABC pending the disciplinary hearing - the issue of contention and the crux of just one of the protracted court cases against him - but he has now decided to take a voluntary leave of absence.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng's lawyer, Zola Majavu indicated that Hlaudi Motsoeneng "as at 12:30 [on Friday]  has voluntarily removed himself from the workplace."

"He will remain on a voluntary leave of absence until the completion of disciplinary proceedings which the SABC has instituted against him".

SABC's Hlaudi Motsoeneng prepared to go all the way to South Africa's Constitutional Court to set aside his court ordered suspension.

The SABC's embattled and highly controversial chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng is set and prepared to take the case against his High Court ordered suspension all the way to South Africa's Constitutional Court.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) political party on the one side, and the SABC with Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the minister of communications, Faith Muthambi on the other, all agreed on Wednesday to send the Western Cape High Court case straight to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein in September.

Should the Supreme Court of Appeal however find against Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the public broadcaster's famously matricless boss is already prepared to take the case even further to the country's Constitutional Court.

Zola Majavu, Hlaudi Motsoeneng's lawyer, told ANN7 (DStv 405) that "if the Supreme Court of Appeal decision does not go his way, we'll then trot all the way to the Constitutional Court".

"And if the Constitutional Court then decides against him, that is the end of the matter, we all have to lick our wounds and accept the decision of the Constitutional Court. But this is not over, not by a long shot".

On Wednesday all the parties decided to postpone the case against Hlaudi Motsoeneng and to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). The effect is that the case will actually be heard by the SCA much sooner than what would have been the case - likely in August or September - where it would usually have taken 12 to 18 months to reach that court.

More than just Hlaudi Motsoeneng's court ordered suspension hinges on the case.

It actually speaks to the powers of the Public Protector and the enforcement or not of the findings of the Public Protector's reports which go beyond the SABC and Hlaudi Motsoeneng and will also have broad and significant impact on president Jacob Zuma and the Nkandlagate scandal over which the Public Protector also issued a report in February 2014.

When the Supreme Court of Appeal decide on whether Hlaudi Motsoeneng should be suspended at the SABC in accordance with the Public Protector's report and recommendation made in March 2014, the SCA will actually pronounce whether the Public Protector's findings are binding on organs of the state.

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, in a scathing report on the "dishonest" Hlaudi Motsoeneng last year said that he should be suspended immediately and a disciplinary process started after finding that "Hlaudi Motsoeneng should never have been appointed at the SABC".

In a recorded interview with her Hlaudi Motsoeneng admitted that he lied about his qualifications and having matric and that he made up symbols for a matric certificate he knew he couldn't produce.

The report entitled "When governance and ethics fail" found "abuse of power and improper conduct" and implicated Hlaudi Motsoeneng in maladministration. The report found that he irregularly and rapidly increased the salaries of various SABC staff members which ballooned the SABC's salary bill. His own salary also increased three times in one year with 63% to R2.4 million at the beleaguered public broadcaster.

According to the Public Protector's report further found that Hlaudi Motsoeneng was directly involved in purging all the SABC staff who testified against him in an earlier disciplinary hearing, and that the "dysfunctional" SABC board is part of "pathological corporate governance deficiencies at the SABC".

"Hlaudi Motsoeneng has been allowed by successive SABC boards to operate above the law," the Public Protector's report found.

When the SABC failed to suspend Hlaudi Motsoeneng in line with the Public Protector's recommendation and report and in fact permanently appointed him in the position of COO at the SABC, the DA went to court.

Judge Ashton Schippers in the Western Cape High Court ruled that Hlaudi Motsoeneng be suspended and that the SABC institute disciplinary charges against him in line with the Public Protector's report, but Hlaudi Motsoeneng appealed the ruling.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng's appeal was unsuccessful, but Judge Ashton Schippers granted Hlaudi Motsoeneng leave to appeal to the SCA - which is where the case is indeed now heading next - and with Hlaudi Motsoeneng's lawyer indicating that should that be unsuccessful, the SABC's COO is ready to go to the Constitutional Court.

SUSPENDED. High Court orders the SABC to immediately suspend Hlaudi Motsoeneng; controversial COO to appeal judgement again.

The Western Cape High court has just ordered the SABC for a second time to immediately suspend the SABC's controversial and famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng as chief operating officer (COO).

The Western Cape High Court has again ordered the immediate suspension of Hlaudi Motsoeneng and ordered the SABC to immediately start disciplinary proceedings against Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago didn't immediately respond to a media enquiry on Thursday afternoon regarding the High Court's re-affirmed suspension judgement.

Later on Thursday the SABC said in a statement on behalf of Prof. Obert Maguvhe, the SABC's acting chairperson that "the SABC will lodge an immediate appeal on today's ruling by the Western Cape High Court to suspend its chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng".

Later on Thursday Hlaudi Motsoeneng's lawyer, Zola Majavu, confirmed that Hlaudi Motsoeneng would appeal the judgment.

In October Judge Ashton Schippers in the Western Cape High Court ruled that Hlaudi Motsoeneng be suspended immediately by the SABC.

It followed after the Democratic Alliance filed the application, demanding that Hlaudi Motsoeneng be suspended by the SABC following the Public Protector's scathing report on the SABC and Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

The Public Protector's report implicated Hlaudi Motsoeneng in maladministration and corruption at the public broadcaster, finding that "Hlaudi Motsoeneng should never have been appointed at the SABC" and that he should be suspended.

According to the Public Protector, Hlaudi Motsoeneng lied about having a matric certificate and made up symbols for a matric certificate he knew he didn't have and couldn't produce.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng was implicated as having been involved in getting rid of everyone who testified against him in an earlier disciplinary hearing at the SABC, and his salary increased from R1.5 million to R2.4 million at the SABC in one year.

The Public Protector's report advised the SABC to appoint a new COO within 90 days. Instead the SABC appointed Hlaudi Motsoeneng in the position permanently.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng appealed the court decision ordering the SABC to suspend him.

Judge Ashton Schippers said that "organs of state cannot ignore the Public Protector's remedial action".

The court ordered the SABC to start disciplinary proceedings againt Hlaudi Motsoeneng to be conducted by an independent person.

"Good administration of the SABC and openness and accountability, demand his suspension," Judge Ashton Schippers ruled, saying that the allegations against Hlaudi Motsoeneng is serious.

Judge Ashton Schippers ordered the SABC and the minister of communications, Faith Muthambi, to pay the legal costs of the court application.

In today's judgement again ordering Hlaudi Motsoeneng to be immediately suspended, Judge Ashton Schippers granted the leave to appeal‚ but said that Hlaudi Motsoeneng should immediately be suspended pending the outcome of the appeal.

"It is common cause that the appeal process might take a considerable period of time and that a suspension of the order will mean that Hlaudi Motsoeneng will remain in the position of chief operating officer whilst the appeal process runs its course.

"[Therefore] the disregard of the Public Protector's findings and remedial action by the SABC and the minister will remain unremedied. In my view‚ this state of affairs also constitutes irreparable harm to the public interest."

"By contrast‚ Hlaudi Motsoeneng will not suffer irreparable prejudice. As stated in the judgment‚ any prejudice that he might suffer will be significantly contained - he will suffer no loss of remuneration and the suspension is of a limited period."

"And he may be found not guilty on the allegations of misconduct that have been hanging over him for years. Such a result could only serve the interests of Hlaudi Motsoeneng‚ as well as those of the SABC."

BREAKING. 'Guess what. The SABC board asked Hlaudi Motsoeneng to consider acting as the CEO,' says his lawyer.

When you think you've heard it all: The SABC board wants the matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng to become the acting CEO of the South African public broadcaster.

The beleaguered SABC's acting chief operating officer (COO), described as a "semi-illiterate corrupt liar" is mired in controversy and scandal following a damning report into the SABC and Hlaudi Motsoeneng by South Africa's Public Protector.

The Public Protector's report released on Monday found that Hlaudi Motsoeneng who gets a R2.4 million salary lied about his qualifications and is implicated in maladministration, abuse of power, fraud, and irregular hirings and firings of SABC staff.

The Public Protector's report says that Hlaudi Motsoeneng "should never have been appointed at the SABC". Thuli Madonsela also said its worrying that Hlaudi Motsoeneng's personnel file disappeared. The Public Protector recommended that Hlaudi Motsoeneng urgently be replaced by someone qualified.

A shocking and independent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) skills audit report released earlier this month found that a large number of SABC staff don't even have personnel files.

Flanked by his lawyer Zola Majavu, Hlaudi Motsoeneng held a press conference today where his lawyer Zola Majavu let loose a zinger.

"Guess what. When this current CE resigned the SABC board asked Hlaudi Motsoeneng to consider acting as the CEO," claimed Zola Majavu.

The SABC CEO Lulama Mokhobo abruptly quit at the beginning of this month and will be gone at the end of February 2014 just over two months into her 5 year contract. She gave no reasons or explanation, with the SABC only saying "its private and confidential".

Lulama Mokhobo is the 5th SABC CEO in six years to leave the struggling broadcaster.

After the Hlaudi Motsoeneng press conference today, Zola Majavu went on the SABC's 24-hour TV news channel, SABC News (DStv 404) to talk on the daily talk show Question Time with Mpho Tsedu.

"He says if I was incompetent explain to me why would I move from being an announcer to being number two in this corporation? Whether or not he has the academic qualifications is a different matter," said Zola Majavu.

"He says 'I have been acting'. Not only for three months. I've been acting for over two years. If I was that useless why am I not removed? He is still the acting chief operating officer (COO)," said Zola Majavu.

BREAKING. The SABC in a Hlaudi Motsoeneng crisis, broadcasts a surreal discussion referring only to 'Number One' and 'Number Two'.

At, and inside the SABC, the words "Number One" and "Number Two" have different meanings than for a five year old - and viewers not clued up would have been clueless today if they tuned in for an SABC talk show.

On the SABC's 24-hour TV news channel, SABC News (DStv 404), both the interviewer and guest talked in code, using "Number One" (South African president Jacob Zuma), and "Number Two" (the matricless acting chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng - and which made for a surreal viewing and listening experience.

The beleaguered SABC's acting chief operating officer (COO), described as a "semi-illiterate corrupt liar" is mired in controversy and scandal following a damning report into the SABC and Hlaudi Motsoeneng by South Africa's Public Protector.

The Public Protector's report released on Monday found that Hlaudi Motsoeneng who gets a R2.4 million salary lied about his qualifications and is implicated in maladministration, abuse of power, fraud, and irregular hirings and firings of SABC staff.

The Public Protector's report says that Hlaudi Motsoeneng "should never have been appointed at the SABC". Thuli Madonsela also said its worrying that Hlaudi Motsoeneng's personnel file disappeared. The Public Protector recommended that Hlaudi Motsoeneng urgently be replaced by someone qualified.

A shocking and independent PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) skills audit report released earlier this month found that a large number of SABC staff don't even have personnel files.

Zola Majavu appeared on SABC News' Question Time today and spoke to Mpho Tsedu.about the often buzed-about relationship and "direct line" between Jacob Zuma  who is the "first citizen" and called "Number One" by security forces and Hlaudi Motsoeneng who've risen to occupy the number two highest executive spot at the SABC.

"Whether he has a direct line to Number One I wouldn't know, but I cannot imagine that his personal relationship with Number One is such that it supplants due process and procedures. Remember this man ascended from being an announcer to being Number Two through different SABC boards, different CEOs. And to date he still occupies the position that he occupies," said Zola Majavu.

"It would be a sad day if people are scared to touch him when he has broken the law simply because of his connections. I do not believe in all fairness to him and to Number One that can be correct," said Zola Majavu.

BREAKING. Matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng says Public Protector report is part of a smear campaign to get him out of the SABC.

The SABC's famously matricless Hlaudi Motsoeneng says the scathing report from the Public Protector released on Monday is part of a smear campaign to get him out of the SABC and that the Public Protector's report relies too much on documentation.

Flanked by his lawyer Zola Majavu, Hlaudi Motsoeneng faced some of South Africa's press today for the first time since the Public Protector's damning report on the SABC and Hlaudi Motsoeneng which found widespread maladministration, fraud, abuse of power and irregular appointments and firings at the public broadcaster.

The Public Protector recommended that Hlaudi Motsoeneng be replaced by a more qualified person and said Hlaudi Motsoeneng "should never have been appointed" at the SABC.

Spotted in the press corps - actress Sophie Ndaba, known for her role as Queen in SABC1's soap Generations.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng who held the press conference today in his personal capacity and not as part of the SABC, and who left most of the talking to his lawyer Zola Majavu, says the Public Protector's report is part of an attempt to have him removed from the SABC.

Zola Majavu said they plan on taking the Public Protector's report "all the way to the Constitutional court".

"Are you still the COO? The acting COO?" asked Zola Majavu as he turned to Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

"Of course," bragged Hlaudi Motsoeneng as he laughed.

According to Hlaudi Motsoeneng and Zola Majavu, the Public Protector's report is "not gospel" and relies too heavily on documentation.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng said "Hlaudi is stronger, Hlaudi is happy, I'm focusing on my work at the SABC which I do best".

Following the press conference, Zola Majavu went on the daily Question Time talk show on SABC News (DStv 404) to answer questions from Mpho Tsedu.

Here Zola Majavu went on long, almost never interrupted, rants on behalf of Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

"Does Hlaudi Motsoeneng believe that he's qualified to be acting in the position that he is?" asked Mpho Tsedu.

"He says if I was incompetent explain to me why would I move from being an announcer to being number two in this corporation? Whether or not he has the academic qualifications is a different matter," said Zola Majavu.

"He says 'I have been acting'. Not only for three months. I've been acting for over two years. If I was that useless why am I not removed? He is still the acting chief operating officer (COO)," said Zola Majavu.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the SABC, the SABC chairperson Zandile Tshabalala says "the SABC is not in a crisis". The SABC says the SABC board met on Wednesday over the Public Protector's report.

"The SABC board has received the Public Protector's report and has committed to review it further, seeking legal advice and also consult all relevant parties before taking any action".

Interviews for candidates for the new 12-member permanent SABC board will start next week in parliament.

Interviews for candidates for the new 12-member permanent SABC board will start next week Tuesday in parliament until Friday with the list of applications which has been narrowed down to 37 potential candidates.

A multiparty task team was set up last week to cull through the 147 applications which were received to be on the SABC board.

The SABC is currently governed by an interim SABC board who's term will expire at the end of September.

The interim SABC board members were appointed temporarily after the mass exodus and resignations of the entire SABC board in March this year. That followed after claims of undue interference by the then-minister of communications, Dina Pule, who has now been found guilty of corruption by parliament's ethics committee.

The names of members of the current interim SABC board appears on the list of 37 shortlisted candidates, among which are Ellen Tshabalala (the current interim SABC chairperson), Noluthando Gosa (the current deputy SABC chairperson), Ronnie Lubisi and Vusumuzi Mavuso.

The list of 37 names also includes Lumko Mtide who was on the SABC board previously and resigned earlier this year, as well as Darkie Africa, a North West province politician.

The list also includes the name of the highly respected Kate Skinner, the previous co-ordinator and now a member of the vast public pressure group SOS Coalition, a group striving for responsible and quality public broadcasting in South Africa.

Bongani Khumalo, CEO of the Lotto operator Gindani, Thembinkosi Bonakele, the deputy commissioner of the Competition Commission, Charlotte Mampane who is a former SABC chief operating officer and Hope Zinde, a former SABC Africa presenter also made the shortlisted 37.

Also under the shortlisted 37 candidates are Zola Majavu, the lawyer and Premier Soccer League prosecutor, together with the columnist William Gumede and veteran journalist John Mattison.

Connie Seoposengwe, a former speaker of the Northern Cape province is also on the list as a candidate, together with Joe Makhafola, a former spokesperson for the department of communications.