ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu.
ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu has begun the process of filing a lawsuit against Hlaudi Motsoeneng, the SABC’s group executive of corporate affairs, following remarks Motsoeneng made about Mthembu during a broadcast of The New Age business briefing in October.
Mthembu is suing Motsoeneng for R1-million and has also demanded an apology and that Motsoeneng pay legal costs.
“Mr Motsoeneng made outrageous claims and veiled threats against the chief whip, warning him to desist from ‘making a lot of noise’ regarding the SABC and alleging his interest was driven by ulterior motives. Mr Motsoeneng further alleged that the chief whip had attempted to ‘capture’ him,” Mthembu said in a statement.
Mthembu says his legal representatives sent Motsoeneng a letter requesting a public apology as well as details on the alleged meeting at which Motsoeneng says Mthembu attempted to “capture” him. Mthembu initiated legal proceedings following Motsoeneng’s failure to respond to the letter by the stipulated date.
Mthembu said that Motsoeneng’s comments were an attempt to intimidate the ANC’s members of Parliament into relenting on the inquiry into the SABC.
“There is no doubt that Mr Motsoeneng’s claims are unfounded, unsubstantiated and blatantly false. The made-up accusations, aired publicly on live television, were intended to impugn the character of the chief whip. Imputing improper motives on the chief whip was clearly designed to threaten and blackmail him and the ANC in Parliament into silence on a matter of principle with the hope that the inquiry into the SABC, which the ANC caucus has outspokenly pursued, would be abandoned,” Mthembu said.
Mthembu has criticised Motsoeneng’s “unlawful” appointment as the SABC’s group executive of corporate affairs and, along with other MPs, advocated for an inquiry into the SABC after ongoing reports of the public broadcaster’s controversial board and editorial policies.
“The shenanigans that have been unfolding at the SABC only serve to distract the public broadcaster from discharging its core public service mandate,” he said in September.
“The appointment of the corporation’s former COO [chief operating officer], whose previous appointment was also set aside by the courts, is without a doubt the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
In his statement on Thursday, Mthembu said that Motsoeneng will receive court papers regarding the lawsuit in the coming days.