In response to the statements made by Tumi Morake on the Jacaranda FM early morning show on 12 September, a public outcry of protest rose from the side of the white listeners. Morake’s statements were part of a discussion following the cancellation of an Afrikaans music show in Nieu Zealand, allegedly because of Steve Hofmeyr’s participation in it.
During the broadcast, Morake compared the white population to “bullies” and made a comparison with a boy who stole a bicycle from another boy and now the other boy is being forced to share his bicycle with the one who stole it from him.
Despite protests from various sources, Morake used her time slot on air during morning show to try and defend her point of view. She even played voice clips of listeners supporting her action, but none condemning it.
This left the opportunity wide open for the General Manager of Jacaranda FM to apologise for the offensive behaviour of his broadcaster and take immediate disciplinary action. He did not. In actual fact, Mr Kevin Fine opted for the same destructive course of action that Pierre van Tonder, CEO of Spur, chose earlier this year. He issued a statement in which he condoned Morake’s behaviour and tried to cover it up with a number of sentences which actually stand in contradiction to what he tried to achieve.
“Jacaranda FM supports a non-racial society and does not condone hate speech in any form on its platform.”
No Mr Fine, by implicitly calling white South Africans thieves and emphasising black South Africans as “people of the soil” thereby implying white South Africans does not belong here, Tumi Morake is very much guilty of hate speech. She was the one to turn the entire affair into a racial issue, how do you possibly align that with a non-racial society? We cannot accept this statement as a sincere one, alas.
“…content…with the intention of building and uniting South Africa as a nation.”
By calling the minority population (and a large part of her listeners) bicycle thieves and not people of the soil? The station’s laudable intention may be there, but Tumi Morake certainly did not bring it to action.
“As a radio station, we are committed…by allowing for the expression of a variety of different viewpoints and perspectives.”
This we dispute as well. Not only did she opt to play voice clips only in support of her action, but Jacaranda FM also only allowed air time to Johan Sloet de Villiers, the driving force behind the action to prevent Hofmeyr from performing in New Zealand. Why was there no interview with the organisers of the show or Hofmeyr himself? No, this is not true. Up to this point, this has been pretty much a one-sided affair.
So what now? Front National already called for a boycott of Jacaranda FM. We hope that you would actually prove that you are serious about the things you say in your statement by issuing an apology and taking Tumi Morake off air. We hoped in vain.
You decided to pull a Spur on the listeners. I have an idea the listeners are going to pull a Spur on you now!
Think, observe, contemplate and learn from the mistake of a once-influential business group – it only happened very recently, you know. And your radio station reported on it! You cannot plead ignorance.
Read the original article by Daniel Lötter on Front Nasionaal SA – blad
South Africa Today – South Africa News
