Hlaudi Motsoeneng loses appeal bid, must repay 'success fee' millions

Former SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng has lost an appeal bid to avoid paying R11.5m paid to him as a “success fee” for the MultiChoice deal.

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) dismissed the application with costs on January 19, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) said this week.

Motsoeneng had appealed against an order of the Gauteng High Court declaring the decision of the then SABC board to pay him R11.5m unlawful and invalid.

Around August 2016, the SABC board took a decision to pay Motsoeneng a success fee for clinching the MultiChoice deal.

In February 2018, the SIU and the SABC jointly issued summons against Motsoeneng in the high court to recover the success fee.

In December 2021, the high court reviewed and set aside the former board’s decision and found the decision was unlawful and invalid.

The SIU said it welcomed the order of the SCA “as it paves the way for the unit to recover the financial losses suffered by the SABC because of unlawful and invalid decisions”.

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