SABC suspends Unathi

METRO FM Radio and Television personality Unathi Msengana has been suspended from her show The First Avenue with immediate effect. South Africa’s national broadcaster, Sabc, this week took the decision to remove the Idols SA judge from the show following her Stellenbosch University comments on Twitter.

Twitter battalion came down hard on Msengana following her interview with Stellenbosch University industrial engineering student, Anelisiwe Mdube, where the student was sharing their experiences with the varsity lecturing them in Afrikaans. Mdube stated that although the university claims to be multilingual, most lectures are still conducted only in Afrikaans.

Msengana asked Mdube whether or not the students had read the universities language policies. When the student tried to explain that it was not made clear that she would be lectured in Afrikaans, Msengana would allegedly not hear of it.

The matter then escalated as people took to social media to voice their disappointment in the way Msengana handled the issue. The twitter hashtag #UnathiBeLike trended on Twitter. This is the hashtag that led to more trouble for Msengana. A private DM (direct message) conversation between herself and a twitter follower was made public where Msengana allegedly calls a young women a Psycho B***h.

Sabc spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the radio and TV personality had not been suspended for her comments and questions on air, but for things she tweeted to listeners after the show.

“There was an engagement that was out of our control that happened on Twitter . . . the discussion started continuing on her Twitter page which is outside of our control but it has got an effect on us.

“The questions she asked on air were valid and there was nothing wrong with her questions,” Sabc spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said.

“(She was suspended) not necessarily because she works for us, but it was also because of the topic that was on air on our platform,” explained Kganyago.

He said although Msengana had not done anything wrong on the show, her Twitter rants where she swore at a listener, had tainted the station’s credibility.

“We’ve no control over DJs and what they do in their private space, but our DJs should know that they’re representatives of the brand.” — Sowetan/DailySun/Showbiz Reporter.