By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Constitutional Court has declined to hear former SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s appeal against a ruling ordering him to pay back the money, plus interest to his former employer.
In a short directive, Concourt said his application for leave to appeal does not engage its jurisdiction.
Motsoeneng was denied an opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) regarding the success fee in which he received from the public broadcaster by the Constitutional Court on September 18.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) said the constitutional court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by Motsoeneng of an earlier supreme court of appeal judgment which found him liable to pay back the R11.5-million – plus interest – to the public broadcaster.
Motsoeneng had appealed a January 2023 supreme court of appeal judgment, which had dismissed his appeal of an earlier high court judgment with costs. The high court in Johannesburg had found that the payment of the R11.5-million success fee was unlawful and invalid. He was ordered to pay back the original money, plus interest, which brought his liability to the SABC to R18-million.
The success fee related to his role in securing a contract with Multichoice Group broadcast rights.
It’s not clear whether Motsoeneng, has the means of paying back the money, though the SIU has already clawed back about R6.5-million from his pension benefits, which he will no longer receive.
“The SIU welcomes and sees the constitutional court’s decision of 18 September 2024 as a positive step as it clears the way to pursue the outstanding amount from Motsoeneng, “the investigating unit said in a statement on Thursday.
Motsoeneng who used to hold the top position at the SABC for being the chief operating officer, from 2011 until 2013, was fired after bringing the public broadcaster’s image into a disrepute.