Former SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng is seeking more money from the bankrupt public broadcaster, this time claiming R16m he says is owed to him for brokering a controversial content deal with pay-TV giant MultiChoice.
The controversial ex-SABC boss has responded to a civil claim lodged by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to recover R21m from him with his own counterclaim against the public broadcaster.
Motsoeneng was paid a "success fee" of R11.5m in 2016 by the then SABC board under questionable circumstances, for negotiating a deal with MultiChoice for various broadcast rights including access to the SABC's archives.
The SIU wants to recoup this money from him.
The investigative body and the SABC also want Motsoeneng to pay back a further R10.2m spent on irregular appointments, salary increments, suspensions and unlawful dismissals during his reign as COO.
In his counterclaim, filed in the high court in Johannesburg, Motsoeneng denies any wrongdoing, arguing that he is entitled to outstanding compensation for his business "innovation" and for raising capital for the cash-strapped SABC.
He claims the deal netted the public broadcaster a R1.19bn profit.
Motsoeneng argues that it was his "own ingenuity" that earned this profit for the SABC, and says he negotiated the deal outside his job description as COO, and therefore should be compensated.
"The amount raised helped [the SABC] to establish SABC Encore on channel 156 and the SABC 24-hour news channel.
These channels were not hosted on the SABC channels for which [Motsoeneng] was employed, but constituted an innovation which the SABC could utilise for its expansion and digital migration," read his court papers.
He contends that the decision of the board to approve the payment of his success fee, calculated at 2.5% of the R1.19bn less R1m, is valid and binding on the SABC and that the R11.5m already paid to him in the form of a bonus was only a part payment of the total owed to him.
The SABC "has an obligation to pay the remainder of the monies which constitute part of the 2.5% of the R1.19bn to the defendant", read the court papers.
The SIU this week told parliament's standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) that it had referred two former SABC board members, two former officials and one current SABC official to the National Prosecuting Authority for possible criminal charges in relation to the success fee paid to Motsoeneng.
The SIU told Scopa Motsoeneng wanted an extra R16m.
They have no facts; they are busy with hearsay. And Mothibi is playing politics and trying to please politicians
— Hlaudi Motsoeneng
Advocate Andy Mothibi, head of the SIU, said there was evidence of criminality in respect of the payment of Motsoeneng's success fee.
He declined to share the names of the officials with MPs because they have not been charged yet.
Minutes of a meeting of an SABC board subcommittee on governance, held on August 19 2016, show that then acting CEO James Aguma gave a presentation on the "success fee" as an agenda item and motivated at length for the payment to Motsoeneng.
Aguma told the meeting that if the SABC did not compensate Motsoeneng for going "beyond the call of duty to raise funds for the SABC", channels such as SABC Encore and the 24-hour news channel would eventually close down.
Three board members - then chairperson Mbulaheni Maguvhe, Leah Khumalo and Aaron Tshidzumba - attended the meeting at which Motsoeneng's hefty bonus was approved.
Motsoeneng was part of the sub-committee meeting when it began but was excused when the success fee came up for discussion and approval.
Mothibi told MPs that his unit was still investigating whether the SABC had suffered losses due to the MultiChoice deal.
Motsoeneng told the Sunday Times he would not comment as the matter is before court.
However, he rubbished the SIU's action against him, accusing the body of abusing its powers and colluding with the current SABC board and management.
"They have no facts; they are busy with hearsay. And Mothibi is playing politics and trying to please politicians," he said.
Mkhuleko Hlengwa, the chair of Scopa, said he wanted the committee to hold a special meeting to deal with all of the Motsoeneng-related matters as he is a perennial presence in a range of SABC governance matters.
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