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Verashni Pillay’s resignation sparks mixed reaction on social media
Verashni Pillay's departure from The Huffington Post has raised questions around white supremacy and white privilege.
verashni pillay
Last week proved to be an interesting week for media ethics and media freedom in South Africa, from Mabulu’s controversial painting to the notorious Huffington Post South Africa blog post.
The publication ran a blog post by a Shelley Garland, who turned out to be a hoax, and the scandal subsequently trended on social media, raising a number of concerns regarding racism, sexism and the credibility of the publication.
Shortly after the Huffington Ghost scandal broke, the Press Ombudsman found the publication guilty of breaching the press code and was ordered to apologise for malicious discriminatory hate speech.
As a result, editor-in-chief of Huffington Post SA Verashni Pillay resigned with immediate effect on Saturday, April 22.
The news and opinion website was launched in the country late last year. Pillay joined the team as the editor-in-chief shortly after the launch. She has worked at various periods as a senior reporter, covering politics and general news, including a stint as the editor-in-chief at Mail & Guardian, before joining Huffington Post.
It appears Pillay was the scapegoat in the debacle, according to some. The resignation sparked a mixture of reactions from politicians, fellow journalists and other influential public figures.
A scandal which offended white men has led to Verashni Pillay's resignition. I despise the self-righteousness of white masculinity, period! https://t.co/Ds9ITFafPi
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 22, 2017
It is more scandalous that a one of the most talented & youngest black female editors, Verashni Pillay, is destroyed by offending white men
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 22, 2017
In Defense of HATE is my next piece.I'll pay homage to talented young black woman editor, Verashni Pillay for publishing anti-white men blog
— Mbuyiseni Ndlozi (@MbuyiseniNdlozi) April 22, 2017
Woke up to news that Verashni Pillay has been forced out of her job. The ruling by the ombudsman is an absolute outrage. Ridiculous.
— Khaya Dlanga (@khayadlanga) April 23, 2017
Verashni Pillay has resigned and Helen continues to insult us on twitter with no implications #whiteprivelege
— Floyd Kau (@Ngwanyane) April 22, 2017
Resign for saying the legacy of colonialism was not ONLY negative? Seriously?
— Helen Zille (@helenzille) April 22, 2017
A sad day for journalism in South Africa. https://t.co/0dJRbbmeGT
— Khadija Patel (@khadijapatel) April 22, 2017
White privilege?
1. @verashni gets fired/resigns
2. @zapiro celebrated for offending? Still nice to be white in radically transforming SA— Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) April 22, 2017
The climate is getting tougher for Black people who publicly challenge white supremacy and white fragility in their writing
— SimamkeleD (@simamkeleD) April 22, 2017
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