The main gist of the meeting on Thursday was to deliberate over a working document compiled by the committee‚ but a request made last Friday‚ by United Democratic Movement (UDM) chief whip Nqabayomzi Kwankwa‚ to call Motsoeneng was debated.
On Thursday morning‚ he repeated his contention that it would be in the interest of “fairness and natural justice” to give Motsoeneng an opportunity to respond to claims made against him by many witnesses.
Kwankwa also said that former SABC chairpersons Dr Ben Ngubane and Ellen Tshabalala‚ the last two witnesses to give testimony last Friday‚ were invited to the inquiry to give them a chance to answer “damning allegations” made against them. Motsoeneng should similarly be given the same chance‚ he argued.
The EFF’s Fana Mokoena disagreed‚ saying the “mandate of the committee is not to clear people’s names”.
The DA’s Phumzile van Damme was animated in her opposition to Kwankwa’s request‚ criticising him for bringing it “at the 11th hour”.
The IFP’s Narend Singh said the committee was not intended as a “disciplinary hearing” against Motsoeneng‚ but rather to find way to correct the ills plaguing the public broadcaster.
He also said the Motsoeneng did not deserve “special treatment because he was mentioned so much”‚ and added that “he was mentioned so often during the inquiry because he had “flouted so many regulations”.
