SABC terminates DJ Fresh’s contract

The confusion surrounding DJ Fresh’s future at Metro FM has cleared after the public broadcaster announced on Tuesday that it would be terminating his contract.

According to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) the termination follows “unsuccessful engagements between SABC Radio Management and Mr. Thato Sikwane, subsequent to his usage of offensive language on air, resulting in the SABC being found guilty and sanctioned by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) for contravention of clause six of the BCCSA’s code of conduct.”

The public broadcaster alleges his conduct brought them into disrepute.

The announcement comes as DJ Fresh trended on social media for his appearance on news channel Newzroom Afrika’s breakfast show and what many believe is a pending job offer from Newzroom Afrika owners Thabile Ngwato and Thokozani Nkosi.

https://twitter.com/ThabileNgwato/status/1148502754631045120

UPDATE:

DJ Fresh has issued a statement in response to the SABC’s announcement and hinted that he already has a new show lined up for later this year.

Due to a tweet sent by Newzroom Afrika co-founder Thabile Ngwato after DJ Fresh’s appearance on the channel’s flagship breakfast show trended on Tuesday, many believe that the news channel will be his new home.

“Please stay. We can discuss logistics later. @ThokozaniNkosi you in?” tweeted Ngwato.

Although Fresh did not respond directly to Ngwato, he did have this to say:

“Hi Guys. Thanks for all the calls and messages of concern. I have actually never been better! I feel like I have been freed of some burdensome monkey on my back. My time at Metro was nothing short of magical. Thanks to all of the listeners and colleagues that made it what [it] was.”

According to the DJ, he already had designs on leaving the station in March but opted to stay for the sake of his fans.

“I have no regrets about how this worked out, because I firmly believe that fair labour practice is about correction more than it is about being grossly punitive. As a principle, I would sooner walk away from a job (ANY JOB) than accept such abuse,” he added.

He concluded by apologising for his use of offensive language, promising to do better next time and asking his fans to “watch this space” in anticipation of his mysterious new show.

[FINAL STATEMENT] pic.twitter.com/ZDjAKNlnpm

— DJ Fresh (Big Dawg) (@DJFreshSA) July 9, 2019

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