By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s application for leave to appeal a High Court’s ruling against him has been dismissed.
He was ordered by the High Court to pay R11.5 million, which he obtained unlawfully.
This comes after the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the SABC approached the courts to recover money that Motsoeneng had benefitted from during his time at the public broadcaster.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) on Tuesday welcomed the court judgment.
In December 2021, the high court found that the SABC board’s decision to pay Motsoeneng a R11.5-million “success fee” was “unlawful and invalid”.
At the time, the court had also ordered Motsoeneng to repay R11.5 million to the SABC within seven days, plus 15.5% interest dating back to September 2016, as well as the costs of application and two counsels.
The African Content Movement (ACM) leader will now have to pay back the R11.508,549.12 plus the interest in light of the leave to appeal the ruling.
Motsoeneng was fired from the SABC in June 2017 after he was found guilty of misconduct over his public criticism of SABC board members and a parliamentary committee that was looking into alleged irregularities at the broadcaster.