SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng says getting a "piece of paper" when you complete matric is not enough, The Citizen reported on Wednesday.

"You have two kinds of people in this world. You have certificated people and educated people. You can have many degrees but also in that you need brain," Motsoeneng told the newspaper.

He was clarifying what he meant in a speech he delivered at the announcement of the matric results on Monday, where he reportedly said: "Because if you have paper and you don't have brain you can forget [sic]."

He said he was trying to explain that a qualification was not enough.

"You can have all the qualifications, but if you can't operate in the studio, for example, how can you work?" he was quoted as saying.

"I qualified myself. People can write and think whatever they want. I don't know what is the relevance of matric when I have a modern senior certificate, which is higher than the matric certificate."

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela last year found that Motsoeneng had lied about his matric qualification. He was acting COO at the time.

In July, he was permanently appointed as COO.

In October, the Western Cape High Court ordered the SABC to suspend Motsoeneng and begin disciplinary proceedings against him.

The Democratic Alliance then brought an interim application in December for the court order to be enforced. Judgment was reserved.