Yet another Rise FM employee gets the boot

MBOMBELA – Mr Celani Dube was dismissed earlier last month just a couple of days before his brainchild, One Night with Rise FM, took over Mbombela and brought Nathi to town.

According to Dube, his dismissal came after a misunderstanding between him, the station, and a service provider which was then a partner in a certain event.”I was charged with gross misconduct after a misunderstanding with a certain car-rental company.

All this happened when I attended an event in Middelburg around June. I was also charged with gross negligence after a camera had disappeared,” said Dube. However, he has cried foul about alleged personal vendettas against him from his senior, Mr Ferdinand Mabalane.

“I would like to think of my dismissal as something personal between Ferdinand and I, the only problem is that I don’t know what the real issue is. The offences I’m accused of are very petty, and I received a written warning for them then. Things heated up when we were redirected to report directly to him.” Dube went on to accuse Mabalane of being afraid of a “challenge”.

“He doesn’t like it when people stand up to him and speak for themselves, I am vocal and I did my job exactly the way I had to, but that wasn’t good enough. There’s nothing on the charges that had to do with the quality of my job, this shows how personal this sacking is. This is the reason why I decided to take the matter up with CCMA,” he added.

Mpumalanga News tried getting hold of Mabalane, and left a message for him on his voicemail, a call which he later rudely replied to. “I’m disappointed that a paper of your caliber would leave a voicemail with numbers as if we are friends or we talk all the time.

I will not issue any comment on the matter of Celani’s dismissal because it’s a case which is now handled by the CCMA. I will speak about it after the case has been put to bed,” Mabalane, head of programming for Times Media Group, said.

Dube is not the first casualty at the station. Arthur Marime, affectionately known as Riimz, former Afternoon Drive host, Sam Jagger, Zingiswa Chirwa, and Kgutsho Mamabolo known as DJ Vibes, also left earlier this year.

“My case is still pending and awaiting verdict, it’s now more than 90 days, which is not allowed according to the labour law. The station has tried blocking me in all possible ways, but I will fight until justice has taken its course.

From missing witnesses to a missing judge, and I know they are behind all of these shenanigans,” said Riimz. He went on to accuse a South African Local Government Association (Salga) employee, Gugu Langa, of being silenced by the radio station.

“I can safely say on record that I was sabotaged and the station bought most of my witnesses out and Gugu Langa was one of them. Salga was then given free airtime after this particular individual disappeared from my list of witnesses.

It’s so sad because Sam Jagger is also hitting brick walls with her case, but I know that at the end, justice will prevail and all the truth will emerge,” he added. Efforts to get hold of Langa were in vain.When asked if he would return to work should he win the case, Dube confirmed that although he was fine with Mabalane, he would possibly return if the latter had retired in five years’ time. It seems the Rise FM ship is slowly but surely sinking – only time will tell.