Hlaudi Motsoeneng

In the 1990s Motsoeneng became a freelancer at Radio Sesotho and would carry around a radio bag with a mic recorder where he would get lifts with his friends to stories because he did not own a vehicle.

During this period community members alleged that Motsoeneng was a puppet used by Mopeli because not a week would go by where Motsoeneng would not broadcast a positive story about him.

During this time Motsoeneng started to network with other high-profile politicians.

Motsoeneng was eventually moved to Lesedi FM in Bloemfontein in 1992 where he started to make contacts with African National Congress (ANC) politicians.

Employed as a stringer he was paid by the story despite being unable to speak English properly and did not have a matric certificate.

He wanted to be closer to the newsroom and learn more.

At the station, he became good friends with Sebolelo Ditlhakanyane and Sophie Mokoena.

He would become close to ANC politicians such as Ace Magashule and Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri who would later go on to become the Premier of Free State and later the Minister of Communication under President Thabo Mbeki.

Motsoeneng first met Jacob Zuma when Zuma made a speech in Free State before the 1994 elections.

Motsoeneng went to cover the event.

Zuma's speech was not well received, but Motsoeneng supported him and the two became close from then on.

In 1995 he applied for permanent employment with the SABC and while completing the application form for the job, lied about having completed his matric at Metsi-Matsho High School in 1991.

He would later explain that a Mrs Swanepoel from human resources told him to "fill in anything", while Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri was also chairman of the SABC at the time of his application.

Motsoeneng joined the public broadcaster in 1996, as a junior news reporter and by 2003 had advanced to become a current affairs executive producer for Lesedi FM reporting to regional editor James Barkhuizen, again claiming to have matric qualifications.

Due to his ANC connections, he was able to attract top politicians for interviews on his radio show.

In 2002, Motsoeneng was named in a forensic audit in an investigation into the conduct of a news editor in Bloemfontein.

Journalists claimed that Motsoeneng was promoted to a senior position as a producer because he helped her gain her own promotion.

Soon Motsoeneng was clashing with his boss, Barkhuizen, interfering with the latter's decisions and challenging editorial decisions.

He was said to have given staff increases and hired others without his boss's permission.

Both would be suspended in 2006 and Motsoeneng faced internal charges of racism, dishonesty, disruption and policy violations.

There were at least three inquiries into the problems at the Free State office.

The culminated in the 2006 inquiry by the SABC group internal audit department.

He was fired from his position in 2007 for allegedly lying about his educational qualifications.

In 2008 he sought employment at the Free State provincial government as a communications officer but by 2009, was reinstated at the SABC

After being back for 9 months he was appointed as Acting COO.

Motsoeneng is best known for his controversial tenure as COO of the SABC and close relationship with President Jacob Zuma.

During his time at SABC Motsoeneng blocked any critical coverage of President Jacob Zuma leading the Public Protector to state that his actions threatened to entrench a culture of impunity of people in power.

He was also widely known for the unusual nature of his press statements and demands on journalists working for the SABC.

Hlaudi Motsoeneng is the leader of African Content Movement (ACM) who served as the acting Chief operating officer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) from 2011 to 2013.

Motsoeneng was removed from his position as Chief operating officer after it had been found that he lied about his qualifications.

After being removed as acting Chief operating officer it was announced that Motsoeneng would move back to his previous position as Group Executive Editor of Provinces and Corporate Affairs of the SABC.

In December 2016, the Western Cape High Court ruled that Motsoeneng's appointment as Group Executive was illegal and that he was "not entitled to occupy any position at the SABC".

In June 2022 the state capture commission proposed criminal investigations into possible contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act when group CEO Lulama Mokhobo and COO Motsoeneng concluded an SABC agreement with the Gupta owned TNA newspaper.

In July 2022 the High Court dismissed Motsoeneng's bid to appeal the repayment, with interest, of R11.5 million obtained unlawfully when the SABC concluded a deal with MultiChoice.

Motsoeneng was born in either Phuthaditjhaba, Free State in South Africa or Thaba Bosiu in Lesotho, where he was raised by his aunt.

His mother is a sangoma.

He attended Qhibi Ha Sethunya primary school in Qwa Qwa, Free State.

Motsoeneng went on to Metsi Matsho High School, but did not matriculate.

Motsoeneng's career began in Puthaditjhaba when he met Kenneth Mopeli, then Chief Minister of the South African bantustan of QwaQwa, and became his mentor.

Mopeli worked in the same office as Motsoeneng used to work.