Mokoetle's resignation: DA calls on golden handshake to be made public

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Department of Communications and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to make public the settlement amount paid out to former GCEO, Solly Mokoetle. There is no reason why this information would be kept a secret, particularly as Mokoetle's payout, and indeed the SABC, is financed by the public through compulsory license fees. The public has a right to know how its money is being spent. The DA shall be posing a parliamentary question to the Minister of Communications, Roy Padayachie, asking him to reveal the settlement amount.

Clarification on the matter is needed given that the former GCEO of the SABC, Dali Mpofu, was paid R14 million upon his departure from the SABC. He has not been the exception in large payouts to departing CEOs of large state corporations. If Mr. Mokoetle were to be paid out the full amount of his contract, as he has indicated would be the case in media reports, he would receive an estimated R12 million, based on his annual salary of R3 million.

He is reported to have told The Times:

"The celebrations start tonight [...] I'm going to buy myself an expensive bottle of whisky. I will also be going on holiday...play a bit of golf and I will also go fishing."
 
Quite. Whisky, holidays and a bit of golf and fishing, all at the expense of the Treasury. He was on the job for only six months, and in those six months he failed to perform his job as required. It is lamentable that his only interest appears to have been riding the gravy train.
 
Huge payouts to badly performing departing CEOs have cost the public about R250 million in the last ten years and very few of them have ever been held accountable. In fact, in most instances, senior management have directly benefited for their lack of performance by being rewarded with inflated bonuses, golden handshakes and senior positions in government. Mr. Mokoetle would be yet another example of just such a CEO.
 
Should the SABC and the Department of Communications fail to release this information of their own accord, the DA will use all mechanisms available to ensure that this information is brought to the knowledge of the public.

Statement issued by Natasha Michael MP, Democratic Alliance Shadow Minister of Communications, January 20 2011

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