SABC, Motsoeneng and former head of news ordered to pay legal costs for SABC 8
Solidarity and Bemawu represented the journalists in their Labour Court challenge last year when they were dismissed for speaking out against censorship.
The Labour Court in Johannesburg on Friday ruled that former SABC chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng was personally liable for the wrongful dismissal of eight journalists at the public broadcaster in the so-called SABC 8 saga.
The court ordered Motsoeneng, former head of news Simon Tebele and the SABC to pay a portion of the legal costs of the SABC 8: Suna Venter, Foeta Krige, Krivani Pillay, Thandeka Gqubule, Busisiwe Ntuli, Lukhanyo Calata, Vuyo Mvoko and Jacques Steenkamp.
The costs order application came after the SABC 8 successfully challenged their dismissal from the public broadcaster after they had defied Motsoeneng’s instruction to not show violent service delivery protests on any of the platforms of the public broadcaster.
Solidarity and the Broadcast, Electronic Media and Allied Workers Union (Bemawu) had asked that Motsoeneng, Tebele and the SABC be held responsible for the SABC 8’s legal action against the broadcaster.
– Additional reporting by African News Agency
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