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Former SABC boss Hlaudi Motsoeneng says he is not going to pay back the money, at least not yet.
The vocal Motsoeneng has also warned his "enemies" to put back the champagne and pause the celebrations because he will find a way to challenge a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling against him in relation to an R11.5 million bonus paid to him by the broadcaster in 2016.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) revealed that the former SABC chief operations officer’s bid to appeal an order by the Gauteng High Court to repay the R11.5 million "success fee" paid to him by the former SABC board was dismissed by the SCA.
The SIU said:
Motsoeneng's appeal was dismissed with costs.
The unit was tasked with recouping the broadcaster’s financial losses in 2018. The case was heard at the court and the high court ordered Motsoeneng to pay back the money within seven days to the SABC. Motsoeneng took the matter to the SCA for an appeal.
Speaking to City Press on Thursday, Motsoeneng said he had not yet received the full ruling, which was granted on January 20.
However, the former SABC boss said he was alerted of the order by journalists on Wednesday who also shared with him a copy of the court ruling.
"I have not received the order yet officially from my legal team. They don’t have the order of the court as I am speaking to you. They are trying to find out from the registrar. So, we got the order from the media," he said.
READ: SIU and SABC to take on Hlaudi Motsoeneng in court in bid to recoup R21m
Motsoeneng added he believed that the order was wrong, and that he would challenge it.
"I am going to engage my lawyers to go back to the SCA because I believe that the judges did not deal properly with the law, including the facts. I believe that the SABC took a decision to recognise the good job that I have done to save the SABC. I don’t believe that the decision was unlawful, the reason being that those channels don’t form part of the Broadcasting Act of the SABC."
The former SABC board paid Motsoeneng a staggering fee for brokering a deal with MultiChoice for broadcast rights, including access to the public broadcaster's archives.
Motsoeneng said the SABC should not punish him for doing a good job and being innovative during his tenure at the public broadcaster.
He maintained:
Motsoeneng has asked his "enemies" to wait a little bit before they celebrate his downfall.
"I have seen other people on social media. Those who are celebrating must just pause. I am still running the race. I believe that in the end, justice will prevail because I believe that what is happening now is injustice. I believe that the court will come up with a different view on the matter."
