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MPOFU wins back his job

Dali Mpofu
Dali Mpofu

Dudu Busani

Dudu Busani

The first thing Dali Mpofu wanted to do yesterday was to call a truce between himself and the board of the SABC.

"I will extend a hand of friendship to them," Mpofu said. "The board abused its power by suspending me but I hope my hand of friendship will be received well."

Mpofu, suspended two weeks ago, yesterday won a Johannesburg high court battle when it ruled his suspension unlawful.

Judge Moroa Tsoka ordered the SABC to pay Mpofu's legal costs.

Mpofu was suspended on May 6, a few hours after he suspended SABC news chief Snuki Zikalala, whom he accused of leaking company information to the media.

Mpofu was accused, among other things, of not following proper procedures in suspending Zikalala.

Mpofu said he was satisfied with the judgment but had mixed feelings about the whole saga.

"I'm happy about the outcome but I feel sad when people abuse power like the SABC board did," he said.

"But I'm going to my office after this. There's a lot of work to be done and I have a meeting with the board this afternoon."

Passing judgment, Judge Tsoka lashed out at SABC board chairman Khanyi Mkhonza, saying her behaviour fell short of that of a director who should act independently.

Mkhonza said the board was convinced its action against Mpofu was legitimate and justified.

"While the board acknowledges that Mpofu has a right to pursue legal avenues to challenge his suspension, we are convinced that our action against him was legitimate and justified," Mkhonza said. "We will study the judgment before issuing a statement on our planned course of action."

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