JOHANNESBURG - The postponement of the ANN7 South African of the Year (SATY) Awards was a sign that South Africans were rejecting the wealthy and politically-connected Gupta family, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has claimed.
ANN7 announced on Tuesday that the awards would be postponed until 2017. “A new date will be announced in due course.
The postponement is due to unforeseen regulatory circumstances that have materially impacted on logistics for the event,” ANN7 said on its SATY website.
“Regretfully this has left us with no choice but to seek a new date in the near future. We look forward to confirming a rescheduled date.”
#SATY2016 postponed| https://t.co/QX6lvXQylB pic.twitter.com/5tlZwNcgkK
— ANN7 (@ANN7tv) November 7, 2016
Responding to the announcement, the EFF said: “We welcome this as a manifestation of the response to the EFF call for South Africans to boycott the awards, thus rendering the ceremony unattainable.”
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The EFF added: “All individuals who were invited and withdrew their participation have chosen to put the interests of the country first and in the process, demonstrated their dignity and self worth.
“The EFF further calls for more boycotts on all that is associated with the Guptas; we must all stop going to the Gupta-owned ANN7 TV programs and taking interviews from The New Age.
“This family has abused the generosity of the South African spirit, humiliated our hospitality simply because they have bought politicians of the [African National Congress] ANC and are in business with [President] Jacob Zuma.”
The EFF said that any association with any of the Gupta businesses, “in particular media houses”, would indirectly or directly normalise their pursuits.
African News Agency (ANA)