CAXTON REPORTER
Motsoeneng said journalists who acted unprofessionally should be stripped of their licences, the SABC reported.
“You know when you are a journalist, you are a professional journalist. If you don’t have ethics and principles and you mislead on your reporting, like lawyers… if you commit any mistake they take your licence,” he was quoted as saying.
“We should do the same thing with journalists, that is what we need to do if we want to build South Africa,” he said during his address at the annual Joburg Radio Days conference at Wits University on 3 July.
EyeWitness News reported that Motsoeneng accused the media of only reporting on corruption because the country was run by black people.
However, Motsoeneng’s remarks fuelled calls for his dismissal.
“There is no reason for Mr Motsoeneng to still be at the SABC, and every reason to relieve him of his duties,” DA MP Gavin Davis said in a statement.
“Hlaudi Motsoeneng today [3 July] confirmed why the SABC board must suspend him without delay… [His comments] are not the considered opinions of a responsible and independent public broadcasting professional.”
Meanwhile, the South African National Editors’ Forum condemned Motsoeneng’s proposal, which it claimed revealed his “ignorance” of journalistic practice in a democracy.
“It is unfortunate that the remarks come from a high-ranking official of [a] public broadcaster, one of the biggest media houses in the country. The proposal is at odds with… freedom of speech which is enshrined in the Constitution,” the forum said in a statement.
According to the forum, Motsoeneng had already demonstrated his ignorance of journalistic practice by trying to prescribe to SABC journalists to broadcast 70 percent “good news” about the government with 30 percent relegated for the so-called “negative” news.
Motsoeneng has been shrouded in controversy and media attention, following a report by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, which found his appointment to be irregular.
Madonsela found that he had misrepresented his qualifications to the SABC and recommended he be replaced.
