Former SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng did not qualify for the new job he was given at the broadcaster, Cope said on Wednesday.

The DA has also questioned the “speed and secrecy” of Motsoeneng’s appointment as group executive of corporate affairs, which the SABC announced on Tuesday.

Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem said Motsoeneng’s appointment was irrational, then and now.

“The bottom line is the man doesn’t even have matric or qualifications to qualify him for such an executive post,” he said in a statement.

The SABC board was setting a bad example to the country, Bloem said.

“What is the SABC trying to tell the younger generation? That matric is useless? That they can still be executives without education?”

DA MP James Selfe said the party would consult its lawyers about Motsoeneng’s new position.

He said the announcement that the SABC’s executive committee (CEO, CFO and COO) appointed Motsoeneng to the position “smacks of irregularity”.

“The speed and apparent secrecy with which the ‘process’ was carried out raises questions about the credibility of the appointment, hot off the heels of the Supreme Court of Appeal’s dismissal of leave to appeal,” he said.

Outgoing Public Protector Thuli Madonsela told reporters on Tuesday that she would ask the SABC to explain its decision and would take further action if she deemed it necessary.

Last Monday, the SCA rejected Motsoeneng’s bid for leave to appeal against a November 2015 Western Cape High Court ruling declaring his appointment as COO irrational, and setting it aside.