eNCA HATES — FOUNDED 1887, JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA [ ME IOL.CO.ZA ] — Tuesday, May – 28 2024 ZUMA
Former president says they’ve always hated him because he’s threatened the power monopolies
PROMINENT political analyst Jamie Mighti has launched an attack on TV station eNCA over its canning of an interview with uMkhonto weSizwe (MKP) president Jacob Zuma that was supposedly going to be aired on Monday evening.
The former president, speaking to The Star last night, said: “They’ve (eNCA) always hated me. Because I’ve threatened the power of monopolies.
“But they cannot turn the people of South Africa against me. But they tried.
“It is time for South Africans to rise up and vote for a party that will defeat censorship by the media of monopoly capital.
“We should not complain, we should mobilise and give MK a divisive victory.” Mighti, speaking exclusively to The Star, said he thought the decision announced by eNCA was “irregular” and “contradictory”.
This comes after social media was abuzz that the former president would be seen in a television interview ahead of the anticipated national and provincial elections.
However, the broadcaster released a statement that it had not sanctioned an interview with the former president with Power to Truth presenter JJ Tabane.
“The interview cannot be broadcast as it is so close to the elections. For this reason, all current affairs programmes, including Power to Truth, have been cancelled this week.
“eNCA cannot advance the interests of any political party over another. If the interview was broadcast all other political parties would need to be given equivalent airtime, which is impossible at this stage,” said eNCA.
However, Mighti told The Star that the broadcaster was acting unfairly.
“It is irregular because eNCA was advertising it would screen this interview, which is to indicate that they had already done whatever checks necessary and had deemed it appropriate to air the Jacob Zuma interview,” said Mighti.
“It is contradictory in the sense that other media houses are still airing interviews.
“For instance, we saw one of the news channels airing former president Thabo Mbeki’s interview, which is within the 48-hours window.”
Mighti said there also seems to be a misunderstanding on what the code indicates.
“The code indicates that party material may not be broadcast within 48 hours of the electoral cycle.
“It doesn’t indicate, for instance, interviews that are hosted by the channel cannot be broadcast.
“There is no inherent gain from an interview, banning it while other channels are showing other interviews can create a perception in the public that there is a negative sentiment about that particular candidate being outright banned,” said Mighti.
Speaking about the MKP, Mighti said Zuma had a right like other South Africans to express his political ideology and beliefs through a political party.
The MKP, through its spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela, said Zuma was being targeted.
“The MK Party vehemently condemns the ongoing and systematic persecution of president Jacob Zuma …
“This persecution is a direct result of a co-ordinated anti-Zuma campaign orchestrated by the ANC of Cyril Ramaphosa on behalf of White Monopoly Capital (WMC), and those who are intimidated by the MK Party’s radical stance on land expropriation without compensation,” he said.