Sekunjalo Chairman Doctor Iqbal Survé said on Thursday during an interview on the popular Podcast and Chill that the elite group of people running South Africa from behind the scenes are heartless and cruel, and will stop at nothing to see his image tarnished.
Survé discussed a number of issues affecting the media landscape in South Africa, among other sectors of the economy, with host MacG.
During the heart of the interview, MacG tried to uncover some of the complexities Survé faced when he tried to enter into the media business, which according to him, is heavily controlled by those groups that benefited under the apartheid regime.
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— DR. IQBAL SURVÉ (@IqbalSurve) August 24, 2023
Survé told MacG he was attacked by South Africa’s elites, who did not want another media company changing their narrative and giving black South Africans hope that they could be more in the land of their forefathers.
In 2013, Survé, together with a number of other black South African entrepreneurs approached Independent Media’s previous Irish owners to buy the company.
It was around this time that he noticed a campaign mounting against him.
Since then, Survé has been on the front pages of many news titles, portraying him as a corrupt and crooked businessmen.
“Until 2013, we did everything right, I mean we are the only black group that listed three companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Suddenly, we wanted to buy the media to tell the story of Africans, about our communities, where we come from.
“So we started this journey, and first approached the Cape Times, to go buy the Cape Times. The Irish told me to ‘f- off’… I didn’t understand, you can touch anything but don’t touch the media. The media is theirs.
“They don’t want to see black success because that goes against, which they have been running for decades, that black people can’t have success…
“They are heartless. They are cruel,” Survé said.
WATCH THE FULL MACG PODCAST EPISODE HERE
The Independent Media boss said he has been attacked by “the establishment” and South Africa’s banking system because of his views of how every South African should be treated equally.
“They do this by trying to paint you with a brush of corruption, to make you seem like you are a corrupt person in the eyes of the public. Mind you, these are the same people that benefited from the apartheid regime.”
During the interview, MacG, whose real name is Macgyver Mukwevho, also spoke about some of the challenges he faced along the way of becoming one of the biggest and most viewed podcasts in the country.
Mukwevho said he was labelled as many things, including a homophobe, while growing his brand and thinks that this was part of “the establishment’s” plan to destroy his reputation and hard work.
But Survé reminded Mukwevho that he had done a tremendous job in building the Podcast and Chill product, with the resources he had, and that he should continue to speak freely because that is what a democracy constituted.
IOL