Motsoeneng & Tshabalala should pay their own legal fees
21 September 2015
Replies [1][2] to parliamentary questions have revealed that SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng and former SABC Chairperson Ellen Tshabalala are not being held liable to pay their own legal fees in the respective cases against them.
The replies indicate that the SABC has submitted a claim to its insurance company to pay for Motsoeneng and Tshabalala’s legal fees. In other words, the TV licence-paying public is footing the bill via the SABC’s insurance premiums, while Tshabalala and Motsoeneng pay nothing.
It is now clear why Tshabalala was prepared to use every tactic her legal team could dream up to delay the outcome of the parliamentary inquiry, including a court interdict. She had been guaranteed a bottomless pit of public money to avoid justice for as long as possible. Tshabalala stated last year that her legal fees came to more than R 1 million.
Hlaudi Motsoeneng is currently appealing a High Court judgment ordering the SABC to suspend and discipline him as directed by the Public Protector. With the public paying his legal expenses, it is no wonder that he has vowed to take his case all the way to the Constitutional Court if his appeal fails. The exact cost of Motsoeneng’s legal fees so far is not known, but it is likely to be in the region of R1.5 million - and counting.