'No fashion or dancing' tweet by News24’s Adriaan Basson about Mamokgethi Phakeng sparks fury

UCT’s former vice-chancellor Mamogkethi Phakeng (left) and News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson (right).

UCT’s former vice-chancellor Mamogkethi Phakeng (left) and News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson (right).

Published Mar 15, 2023

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Cape Town – What might have been intended to seem as an innocent but witty quip from News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson ended up as something more akin to a bitter rant.

South Africans, media, political personalities and even celebrity personalities are not holding back from expressing their views and thoughts regarding a comment made by the News24 editor.

Basson on Tuesday, March 14 took to Twitter to seemingly comment his thoughts on a circular shared by new UCT interim vice-chancellor Daya Reddy that had been shared by the university’s official account earlier that day.

Retired professor Reddy was announced by the institution on Monday (March 13), as the new interim VC following the unceremonious departure of former VC Mamokgethi Phakeng who had served in the position for two consecutive terms.

Reddy, who officially began his tenure as VC yesterday, kicked off his first day on the job by penning a statement to the tertiary institute’s body addressing some of the university’s burning challenges, including the recent protest demonstrations by the tertiary institution’s students.

However, what might have been just another activity by the new VC soon turned into a tug of words among South Africans, although most of the angst was directed towards Basson for tweeting what many referred to as a condescending, racially charged sexist tweet crafted to slight UCT’s former VC Mamogkethi Phakeng.

In his initial tweet, Basson wrote: “No fashion or dancing videos while Rome is burning. Refreshing change at @UCT_news.”

While at first, the tweet garnered several likes and retweets and only a few comments from the general public, seemingly disagreeing with Basson and calling him to order.

Several hours later the tweet had garnered over a million views and hundreds of retweets and comments slamming Basson for allegedly mocking Phakeng.

Media personalities, including the likes of Eusebius McKaiser, Dj Fresh, Aldrin Sampear, Thembisa Nxumalo and Chriselda Lewis, also joined in the conversation chiding Basson for his statement.

Aldrin Sampear commented, “No man Adriaan. This is yet another example of how the conduct of newsroom managers further diminishes the confidence news audience have in the media. It also detrimental to the relationship between your foot soldiers and newsmakers.”

Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono also shared his view on Basson’s sentiments, saying that he always encourages his journalist friends who edit newspapers to keep their opinions to themselves, because whatever they say can’t be separated from agenda-driven journalism.

Chin'ono said: “Consumers of news will not trust news outlets when they report on people who are dissed by their editors!”

To which Basson responded with a series of apologies, that unfortunately many took offence to.

In response to the backlash from his first tweet, Basson had written, “I apologise if my tweet caused hurt or created the wrong impression that a VC can’t lead & have fun at once. That was not the point I was trying to make. If you read Prof Reddy’s statement and followed the tumultuous exit of Prof Phakeng you would have understood the context.

“On 24 Feb, student protests started at UCT. Prof Phakeng was still the VC. If you were a UCT student or lecturer or parent, you would not have known about this or what UCT was doing about it by following Prof Phakeng’s posts.”

Lastly, he tweeted that professor Reddy’s statement spoke for itself.

He said: “UCT’s comms about protests have been terrible. But I have learnt this platform doesn’t tolerate any criticism of Prof Phakeng, and I will stay in my lane and await the finalisation of the Mpati Commission’s report.”

In response to Basson’s apology, many people still shared that they were disappointed by his conduct which called into question the reputation of the News24 organisation and the journalists Basson oversees.

One user said: “An apology that's no apology. You're bullying a black woman. And we won't let you get away with it, soze! @News24 will not get my money again.”

The EFF’s Naledi Chirwa commented: “This is the worst apology I’ve ever come across. Mired in manipulation and blatant lies. You must be a pathological liar to report someone’s exit on the 22nd of February and then blame them for events on the 24th AS PART OF THE APOLOGY. Sies. Disgusting.”

Another Twitter user commented, “You’re NOT apologizing. You’re explaining your truth that Prof Phakeng was a dancing fashionista in times of crisis. Your careful selection of words fails to mask what you really seek to convey. You’re not being called out for criticizing her leadership style.”

While another wrote that, “It's not ‘if my tweet caused hurt’ — it did! Your tweet was highly disrespectful. Your position as Editor-in-chief for a news publication and that was what you wanted to say? Your views have been brought into question for a long time now. Even more so now.

“Firstly UCT was top ranked in Africa all the years that Prof Kgethi was VC. So Rome was not burning. Secondly your disdain for a black woman’s dressing and dancing is RACISM. You cannot reconcile that a Maths PHD and Professor can be flamboyant and vibrant and still excel.”

In response to Basson’s tweets, Phakeng tweeted: “Wildly, you’re the most unethical editor in SA but aren’t even creative at concocting stuff. FYI, ‘Rome’ burnt ONCE during my tenure (naturally by the way); guess who was on the ground? Also, I posted a dancing video while on SABBATICAL, and boxing gloves while on RETIREMENT.

“Even if I posted dancing videos during protests, it’s myopic and parochial to assume that dancing for a minute and doing work are mutually exclusive. I consistently woke up am and started work at 5am Adriaan! I do not (& never will) fit in the box you are trying to put me in.

“Unfortunately, you can never rewrite history to fit the narrative you are working so hard to perpetuate. You consistently used your platforms to spread hogwash in my name and I could not defend myself. That time is over; I will not be bullied by you (or any of your colleagues)”

Cape Argus