SABC apologises to former news boss Phathiswa Magopeni, after blocking her on Twitter

SABC's Sea Point offices. Picture: Henk Kruger African News Agency (ANA)

SABC's Sea Point offices. Picture: Henk Kruger African News Agency (ANA)

Published May 31, 2022

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Durban - The former group executive of news at SABC Phathiswa Magopeni has received an apology from the public broadcaster on Tuesday, after she was mysteriously blocked by SABC’s Twitter account.

SABC said they did not know how the incident happened and will be launching an investigation into the matter.

It said the former news head unblocked Magopeni immediately after learning of the incident.

“The SABC has no policy authorising any employee to block users from the public broadcaster’s accounts or platforms.

“The SABC wishes to state, for the record, that it has not issued any directive to block Ms Magopeni from its platforms. Upon learning of this unfortunate incident, the corporation immediately unblocked its former employee.

“Furthermore, the SABC has reached out to Ms Magopeni, explaining the facts of the matter, and profusely apologised for this unfortunate incident,” SABC said.

On Monday night, Magopeni shared a screenshot of her Twitter account, receiving a notification indicating that SABC had blocked her.

“Public news service,” she captioned the image.

She was fired from the SABC earlier this year and was asked to hand in her company belongings by 12pm on January 31, after being found guilty of misconduct by advocate Nazeer Cassim, head of the disciplinary council.

Her firing came against the backdrop of the November local government elections last year, which led to the ANC losing major metros and later complaining about the public broadcaster’s coverage of the elections.

Magopeni said in a statement that she took issue with the findings against her and would challenge them at the appropriate time and forum.

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