ENG 2601- Applied English Language Studies
University of South Africa
Question 1: Critically analyse Text A
TEXT A
Acting chief operations officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng has been allowed to operate above
the law, public protector Thuli Madonsela said on Monday. She released a report titled
"When governance and ethics fail" at a media briefing in Pretoria. The report recommends
that the SABC board institute corrective action against the "dishonest" Motsoeneng.
"The SABC board should ensure that all monies are recovered which were irregularly spent
through unlawful and improper actions," Madonsela said. "The board should take
disciplinary action against Mr Motsoeneng for his dishonesty relating to the
misrepresentation of his qualification, abuse of power and improper conduct in the
appointments and salary increments of Ms Sully Motsweni [SABC head of compliance and
acting group executive]."
Madonsela found that Motsoeneng irregularly and rapidly increased the salaries of various
staff members, resulting in the state broadcaster footing an unprecedented salary bill
escalation of R29-million."He unilaterally increased [the] salaries of Ms Motsweni, Ms
Thobekile Khumalo, Mr Hannes du Buisson, and certain freelancers without following parts
of the SABC personnel regulations.
"Mr Motsoeneng's conduct in this regard was irregular and amounts to improper conduct
and maladministration," said Madonsela.
QUESTION 1 ANSWER
Text A is a work of a newspaper piece extracted from the article entitled, ‘SABC’s
Motsoeneng unlawfully hiked salary, finds Madonsela’, from Mail and Guardian. The
text reports on the corruption and unethical behaviour of a prominent member of
society. The first established target audience of the text is the SABC board. The author
states that, “the report recommends that the SABC board institute corrective action
against the dishonest Motsoeneng.” The end of the text is targeted at the legal
personnel (police, jurist, prosecutor etc.) and any persons who are educated,
interested in law, social factors and politics. This is supported by the diction used by
the author such as ‘fraudulently’, ‘investigated’, ‘allegations’, ‘fraud’ and ‘substantiate’,
which are legal terminology.
, The text is written in a socio-economic context where the author criticises corruption
that affects the state both in a societal manner and economically. The author connotes
that, “…Motsoeneng irregularly and rapidly increased the salaries of various staff
members, resulting in the state broadcaster footing an unprecedented salary bill
escalation of R29 million.” The use of phrases like, ‘irregularly increased’, ‘irregular
appointment’, ‘crooked salary progression’, ‘fraudulently misrepresenting’ and
‘committed fraud’, set a critical tone and attitude of the author. Moreover, the text
describes the events of corruption behaviour that took place to show the author’s
extensive knowledge on the subject and support his claims. The author states that,
“Motsoeneng was also investigated for fraudulently misrepresenting his
qualifications…” The use of the word ‘also’ displays the numerous unethical activities
that took place, thus emphasizes the author’s criticism on the subject.
A narrative genre is detected in the text as the author describes the events that took
place. For example, in the introduction, the author states that, “Public Protector Thuli
Madonsela released a report…at a media briefing in Pretoria.” It is also descriptive as
it describes the title of the report and gives the location where the event took place.
The author emulates the critical tone depicted from the report. This tone is illustrated
when the author is finding fault and is disapproving by referring to Motsoeneng as
‘dishonest’ and by connoting that, “…that the SABC board institute corrective action
against the dishonest Motsoeneng.” In addition, an accusatory tone is used by the
author when he states that, “Motsoeneng was also investigated for fraudulently
misrepresenting his qualifications to the SABC” and that, “…Motsoeneng irregularly
and rapidly increased the salaries…” The accusatory tone is used to emphasize the
meaning of the text, convince or persuade the reader to take the author’s side.
The author establishes a factual tone at the end of the article by stating as evidence
the people who share the same opinions as the author of the report. He writes,
“Complaints against Motsoeneng were raised with Madonsela by former SABC staff –
including …Charlotte Mampane and …Phumelele Ntombela-Nzimande.” He goes on
to use a persuasive tone, making it evident that he is taking the side of the report writer
and wants the reader to follow suit when he postulates that, “Motsoeneng was also
investigated…” In the report there is no evidence of the above claim, thus it illustrates
the extensive knowledge that the author has on the subject. It also serves to
emphasize the author’s bias towards the matter.
University of South Africa
Question 1: Critically analyse Text A
TEXT A
Acting chief operations officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng has been allowed to operate above
the law, public protector Thuli Madonsela said on Monday. She released a report titled
"When governance and ethics fail" at a media briefing in Pretoria. The report recommends
that the SABC board institute corrective action against the "dishonest" Motsoeneng.
"The SABC board should ensure that all monies are recovered which were irregularly spent
through unlawful and improper actions," Madonsela said. "The board should take
disciplinary action against Mr Motsoeneng for his dishonesty relating to the
misrepresentation of his qualification, abuse of power and improper conduct in the
appointments and salary increments of Ms Sully Motsweni [SABC head of compliance and
acting group executive]."
Madonsela found that Motsoeneng irregularly and rapidly increased the salaries of various
staff members, resulting in the state broadcaster footing an unprecedented salary bill
escalation of R29-million."He unilaterally increased [the] salaries of Ms Motsweni, Ms
Thobekile Khumalo, Mr Hannes du Buisson, and certain freelancers without following parts
of the SABC personnel regulations.
"Mr Motsoeneng's conduct in this regard was irregular and amounts to improper conduct
and maladministration," said Madonsela.
QUESTION 1 ANSWER
Text A is a work of a newspaper piece extracted from the article entitled, ‘SABC’s
Motsoeneng unlawfully hiked salary, finds Madonsela’, from Mail and Guardian. The
text reports on the corruption and unethical behaviour of a prominent member of
society. The first established target audience of the text is the SABC board. The author
states that, “the report recommends that the SABC board institute corrective action
against the dishonest Motsoeneng.” The end of the text is targeted at the legal
personnel (police, jurist, prosecutor etc.) and any persons who are educated,
interested in law, social factors and politics. This is supported by the diction used by
the author such as ‘fraudulently’, ‘investigated’, ‘allegations’, ‘fraud’ and ‘substantiate’,
which are legal terminology.
, The text is written in a socio-economic context where the author criticises corruption
that affects the state both in a societal manner and economically. The author connotes
that, “…Motsoeneng irregularly and rapidly increased the salaries of various staff
members, resulting in the state broadcaster footing an unprecedented salary bill
escalation of R29 million.” The use of phrases like, ‘irregularly increased’, ‘irregular
appointment’, ‘crooked salary progression’, ‘fraudulently misrepresenting’ and
‘committed fraud’, set a critical tone and attitude of the author. Moreover, the text
describes the events of corruption behaviour that took place to show the author’s
extensive knowledge on the subject and support his claims. The author states that,
“Motsoeneng was also investigated for fraudulently misrepresenting his
qualifications…” The use of the word ‘also’ displays the numerous unethical activities
that took place, thus emphasizes the author’s criticism on the subject.
A narrative genre is detected in the text as the author describes the events that took
place. For example, in the introduction, the author states that, “Public Protector Thuli
Madonsela released a report…at a media briefing in Pretoria.” It is also descriptive as
it describes the title of the report and gives the location where the event took place.
The author emulates the critical tone depicted from the report. This tone is illustrated
when the author is finding fault and is disapproving by referring to Motsoeneng as
‘dishonest’ and by connoting that, “…that the SABC board institute corrective action
against the dishonest Motsoeneng.” In addition, an accusatory tone is used by the
author when he states that, “Motsoeneng was also investigated for fraudulently
misrepresenting his qualifications to the SABC” and that, “…Motsoeneng irregularly
and rapidly increased the salaries…” The accusatory tone is used to emphasize the
meaning of the text, convince or persuade the reader to take the author’s side.
The author establishes a factual tone at the end of the article by stating as evidence
the people who share the same opinions as the author of the report. He writes,
“Complaints against Motsoeneng were raised with Madonsela by former SABC staff –
including …Charlotte Mampane and …Phumelele Ntombela-Nzimande.” He goes on
to use a persuasive tone, making it evident that he is taking the side of the report writer
and wants the reader to follow suit when he postulates that, “Motsoeneng was also
investigated…” In the report there is no evidence of the above claim, thus it illustrates
the extensive knowledge that the author has on the subject. It also serves to
emphasize the author’s bias towards the matter.
