“Stay away from my children's pension”: these were the stern words from former SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng to the public broadcaster and the South Gauteng High Court.
Motsoeneng was ordered by the court to repay R11.5 million to the public broadcaster after he received a “success fee” payout by his former bosses.
The court had ordered him to pay back that money before Christmas, but Motsoeneng doesn’t have the money and has since appealed the matter.
The man who has been credited with transforming the SABC said he was scared that his pension fund would be tampered with.
The SIU, together with the SABC, had approached the High Court to review and set aside a decision by the SABC’s former board to pay Motsoeneng a success fee and recover financial losses suffered by the broadcaster.
"They should not touch that money. I have worked for it, and by touching the pension they are touching my children's money," Motsoeneng said.
He believed he was a victim of a political plot. He said he found inconsistencies and errors with the high court judgment, including the fact that he never received R11.5m from the SABC, but he had received just over R6 million.
"The reason I am challenging this is because the judge misdirected herself by coming to the conclusion that the SABC paid R11 million. She did not have the records of the SABC in front of her. The SABC paid R6.7 and that is the money I got in my account," Motsoeneg said.
The former public broadcaster head said he found it mischievous that the judge had ordered that he pay 15% interest on the money and the fact that he was supposed to pay back the money before Christmas.
"I do not have that kind of money to pay. Even when you go to the bank they can't give you that kind of money without ordering it. Another thing was that the courts were closing on the day that this judgment came out. My law firm had also closed," he said.
Motsoeneg said it was clear that he was a victim of a political battle. He said despite what people thought of him, he had transformed the SABC and enabled it to have new innovations.
"I changed the lives of many people and I know that people were surprised about how I got so far. For me anything in life is possible if you believe in yourself." added the former SABC COO
The matter between Motsoeneg and the SABC has seen some people declaring their support for him and calling the ruling unfair. He believes that the judge was compromised and that a different court would come to a different decision.