Perlman+quits+SABC+after+list+furore,+Ernest+Mabuza,+Business+Day

Business Day, Johannesburg, 30 January 2007
=Perlman quits SABC after list furore=


 * Ernest Mabuza**

VETERAN SABC news anchor John Perlman has resigned from the public broadcaster, hard on the heels of the news that his co-anchor on SAfm’s Morning Live, Nikiwe Bikitsha, is also leaving, SABC sources said last night.

Perlman’s resignation is related to the controversy surrounding the blacklisting of certain commentators. Last June the public broadcaster was rocked by allegations that it had banned commentators it did not want appearing on its programmes.

Perlman raised the ire of SABC management when he confronted SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago on air and told him that there was indeed a blacklist.

SABC CE Dali Mpofu ordered an inquiry to investigate the allegations.

The commission of inquiry found that the SABC staff were instructed to exclude certain commentators from commenting on certain issues.

These commentators included Business Day political editor Karima Brown, political analysts Aubrey Matshiqi, Moeletsi Mbeki, Elinor Sisulu and Zimbabwean publisher Trevor Ncube.

SABC news chief Snuki Zikalala issued orders that Brown was not to be used as she “spread untruths”, and that Matshiqi was not to be used because he was not attached to a research institute at the time.

The commission found that the SABC’s immediate denial of the blacklist, a statement approved by Zikalala, was “misleading by omission”.

The commission also found that Perlman was presented with an official statement by the SABC which he knew, from personal experience, to be untrue.

“He had to decide whether to perpetuate that untruth or to confront it. He chose the latter.

“In the light of the evidence, which has been produced before this commission, we cannot fault him for doing so,” the commission said.

The commission also found that there was an atmosphere of fear in the SABC newsroom, which was not conducive to journalistic independence.

After the release of the commission’s report, the SABC said Perlman would face a disciplinary inquiry for bringing the organisation into disrepute by contradicting its official spokesman on air without exhausting internal procedures. It is understood SABC management wanted Perlman to accept a warning for his behaviour on air.

He refused to accept the warning and wanted the disciplinary hearing to go ahead.

It is understood Perlman is leaving because the SABC is unwilling to address the commission’s finding that there is an atmosphere of fear and distrust.

Kganyago was last night unaware of Perlman’s resignation.


 * From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/national.aspx?ID=BD4A371097**

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