The Sunday Independent reported that the SABC had followed an irregular recruitment process to advertise the top position for three working days, also listing that the post did not require a Grade 12 qualification, which, it reported, was tailor-made for Motsoeneng.
In a statement yesterday, Pule's spokesman, Siyabulela Qoza, said the minister had asked the SABC board to suspend the current recruitment process to follow "a normal and wider executive appointment process".
Qoza said the minister became aware of the process that the SABC intended to follow - one that would have, according to reports, put Motsoeneng in a good position to get the job - on Friday.
"The minister immediately requested the board to suspend the current search and to follow a normal and wider executive appointment process.
"After this engagement, Minister Pule is satisfied that the SABC board will handle all processes of appointments accordingly."
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said he could not comment further on the minister's decision.
The scrutiny on Motsoeneng's qualifications are resurfacing at a time that the public broadcaster has recently gone through years of leadership problems and political in-fighting.
Motsoeneng, reportedly a supporter of President Jacob Zuma, was previously fingered by an internal audit of misleading the SABC about his qualifications when he joined the broadcaster as a junior reporter in the 1990s.
Natasha Michael, DA parliamentary spokesman on communications, welcomed the minister's actions, saying they were a "step in the right direction".
"A strong, independent leadership team is needed to get the SABC back on track after years of instability, poor financial management and political meddling."
Despite the minister putting brakes on the SABC's search, the Communication Workers' Union continued yesterday to punt Motsoeneng for the top job.
Union spokesman Matankana Mothapo refused to be drawn into reports that the embattled acting COO did not posses a matric qualification, saying it was rumour-mongering from people within SABC's corridors and the board.
Mothapo said they backed Motsoeneng because he knows the "ins and outs" of the broadcaster since he joined it in the 1990s.
Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge
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