Cape Town - The former Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) secretary-general who was involved in the famous “Don’t touch me on my studio” spat has denied making any threat of violence.
In April 2010, Andre Visagie and political analyst Liepollo Pheko were debating race relations in post-apartheid South Africa on the set of Africa 360.
When neither would let the other speak Visagie started walking off the set. He turned back, walked towards her and said ”… and you won’t dare, you won’t dare interrupting me”.
Host Chris Maroleng intervened, during which he ordered Visagie not to “touch me on my studio”.
Visagie turned to face Pheko, and said: “I am not finished with you.”
On Wednesday, Visagie said he had heard that Pheko had laid a charge. “The fact that she has three years after the occurrence means that any claim that she would have in a civil court has expired.
“In the second place, it’s far-fetched to accept that after three years this thing is still on her mind and worries her so much that she now feels she has no other recourse other than to lay a criminal charge.
“Thirdly, if you look at that entire tape… you will find that I had warned her more than three times that they must not interrupt me… that ‘I’m going to stand up and walk away’.”
Asked what he had meant when he had said he was “not finished” with Pheko, he said: “She was messing up racial tensions in SA to such an extent that it would become irreparable. I warned her that I was not finished with her, and immediately afterwards I phoned ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and reported the matter to him. That was what I meant and that was what I did.”
Interviewed by eNCA on Tuesday, Pheko said she was laying the charge as a matter of principle.
Cape Argus