PICTURE: FREDDY MAVUNDA As recently as 2005, Hlaudi Motsoeneng was an obscure SABC producer whose territory was — at least officially — limited to current affairs programmes at the Bloemfontein radio station Lesedi FM.But SABC insiders who paid attention to his modus operandi back then used to remark that they would not be shocked if Motsoeneng took control of the broadcaster's whole operation before long. This was clearly a man with rare drive and savvy — a man determined to accumulate power and soar above his humble roots in the rural Free State backwater of QwaQwa.There were rumours that Motsoeneng was connected to powerful politicians and was using these links to advance his career.Hlaudi Motsoeneng — The destructive power of mediocrityThose close to him said he became a regular visitor to then ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma's Nkandla home, where a goat or sheep would be slaughtered on his weekend pilgrimages. Zuma had recently been fired by president Thabo Mbeki — and this was...
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