Motsoeneng is ‘abusing the legal process’ with latest ConCourt appeal, believes SIU head Mothibi

‘We are of the view that Mr Motsoeneng is really abusing the legal process,” said Andy Mothibi, the head of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), about the latest appeal by Hlaudi Motsoeneng against paying back money he unlawfully gained during his tenure as a chief executive at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). 

The SIU briefed Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) - the public purse watchdog - on its investigations into the SABC and the State Information Technology Agency. Wednesday was the second day of hearings into the affairs of both agencies. 

Read more: Mismanaged State Information Technology Agency is ‘a disgrace’, Parliament is told

On Wednesday, MPs kept raising issues around Motsoeneng and his court attempts to not pay back a “success fee” for his role in securing a MultiChoice deal. In August 2016, Motsoeneng was paid R11.5-million by the SABC. 

Eventually, the high court would declare this transaction as unlawful and invalid. Motsoeneng was ordered to repay the R11.5-million - plus interest. This brought the total to about R18-million.

Motsoeneng lost an appeal at the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling, as Daily Maverick reported in May 2024. 

News24 reported in 2024 that an attempt by Motsoeneng to bring the case to the Constitutional Court was rejected on a jurisdictional basis. 

In Parliament on Wednesday, 23 April 2025, the SIU revealed that Motsoeneng has now applied for leave to appeal against the ConCourt decision, which is being opposed by the SABC and the SIU. 

According to the SIU, Motsoeneng brought an urgent interdict to stop the SIU and SABC’s execution and attachment of his assets. In October 2024, when the SIU’s attorneys arrived at court, they found that Motsoeneng’s attorneys had not issued and enrolled the urgent stay application. 

The SIU also said in its presentation to Parliament that on 13 November 2024, it submitted its input on the draft affidavit in Motsoeneng’s second application to the ConCourt. 

During Wednesday’s briefing, several MPs raised questions around the issue - even questioning how Motsoeneng could be appointed at the public broadcaster. 

Ultimately, Mothibi said the SIU was of the view that Motsoeneng was abusing the legal process. 

Mothibi said while everyone had the right to legal recourse, “I am of the view that he is abusing the legal process” by going back to the ConCourt, even after the country’s highest court had already ruled against him. 

“It baffles me,” said Mothibi. 

He told MPs that he hoped the courts issued “appropriate costs in that regard”. 

Daily Maverick tried to contact Motsoeneng - who has now turned to politics, forming his own party called the African Content Movement - for comment, but he did not respond to our communications on Wednesday. 

This isn’t the first time that Mothibi has told Parliament about frustrations with Motsoeneng. In November 2024, News24 reported that Mothibi expressed his frustrations in Parliament with attempts to have Motsoeneng pay back the money. DM