No faith in Faith

In February 2014 public protector Thuli Madonsela published a report on maladministration and abuse of power at the SABC. Titled When Governance and Ethics Fail, it highlighted, among other things, the irregular appointment of the state broadcaster’s acting COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng, and pointed out that he lacked the required qualifications for the job.

The report also found that there was financial maladministration on Motsoeneng’s part as a result of his salary increasing from R1.5-million to R2.4-million in one year, among other suspicious activities.

This week minister of communications Faith Muthambi permanently appointed Motsoeneng to the post, despite Madonsela’s findings – prompting a storm of criticism from the EFF, the SACP, the DA, and even the ANC. For this baffling move, Muthambi is our zero of the week.

Muthambi claimed that she had hired a law firm to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Motoeneng, and that the law firm "cleared” Motsoeneng from the findings of the public protector, paving the way for his permanent appointment.

But Professor Pierre de Vos, an expert in constitutional law and deputy dean of Cape Town University’s law faculty, said that only a court could overturn Madonsela's findings, because the office of the public protector is an institutional body. This opens Muthambi’s decision up to a legal challenge, which is sure to come.

Meanwhile, Madonsela has indicated that she will continue to probe the matter.