They say you never know what you have until you lose it, but in Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s case, you never really know what you are talking about until you possess it.

These were the views of people on social medium Twitter after a report said SABC chief operations officer, Motsoeneng gave a whole speech about how important it is to obtain a matric certificate.

Motsoeneng told journalists that a matric certificate can open a lot of opportunities.

“They (signalling to the top matric achievers) are the future leaders, but it is important to have that paper called [the matric] certificate. What that certificate does is; it opens doors for you,” said Motsoeneng was quoted by Mail and Guardian.

However the SABC boss has no matric.

For many people on social media platform Twitter, this was hypocritical. Some questioned how he is able to explain the importance of the paper when he doesn’t posses one.

In a report released by the public protector Thuli Madonsela, Motsoeneng was found guilty of misrepresenting his results when he applied for a job at the SABC. He had claimed that he had a certificate with five matric subjects.

Despite public reactions to his speech it is clear that the SABC COO really believes a matric certificate is important. Not only did he lie about having one; he also forged it on his job application at the public broadcaster.