Hlaudi's home-coming extravaganza a proper disgrace

27 March 2017

Honourable Speaker,

This past Saturday, the Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality hosted a Home-Coming event at the Phuthaditjhaba Stadium to welcome the disgraced Hlaudi Motsoeneng, former COO of the SABC.

What an insult to the community of Qwa-Qwa, who have been subjected to massive mismanagement and an almost total breakdown in service delivery. Not to speak of the rampant corruption there.

Mr Motsoeneng is a fraud who has been found by several courts to have lied about his qualifications, and a dictator who unilaterally changed the editorial policy of the SABC without consultation, an action now found to have been unconstitutional.

He single-handedly almost destroyed the SABC and left it bankrupt.

Hlaudi is also the beneficiary of a multi-million Rand contract from the Free State Department of Human Settlements to build 400 houses. Not one house was built, even though he received the money. That also makes him a thief.

This is the person who the ANC in Maluti-a-Phofung see fit to celebrate and welcome home.

Hlaudi belongs in jail, yet the ANC Mayor, Cllr Vusi Tshabalala, thinks he is a hero.

The municipality denies that it paid for this extravaganza, but that it was sponsored by ‘business’ people. Undoubtedly these ‘business’ people, are Hlaudi’s fellow tenderpreneurs who receive contracts from the ANC governed municipality, and this is one of the kick-backs required to stay on the ‘preferred supplier’ database.

What a tragedy for the long-suffering people of Qwa-Qwa. To be subjected to this uncaring arrogance by a careless mayor, and a captured and corrupt bunch of ANC cadres siphoning off millions from the people’s money.

Issued by Leona Kleynhans, DA Member in the Free State Provincial Legislature, 27 March 2017