MEDIA STATEMENT
BY THE
INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
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IFP MEDIA
STATEMENT BY: 14 February 2008 An article authored by the Group CEO of the SABC, Mr Dali Mpofu, in which he is said to have concluded: "Ag sies, bayasinyanyisa" (they make us want to puke, the whites that is ) has been highlighted in the recently published book "To the Brink - The State of Democracy in SA" by Xolela Mangcu (University of KwaZulu Press, 2008). Mr Mpofu is said to have argued, in an article published in the City Press, that whites wanted to determine the SABC's agenda. This is outlined in the book (Pages 44-45). If that is indeed his attitude, the Inkatha Freedom Party is grateful to Mr Mangcu for bringing Mr Mpofu's statement to a wider audience. Indeed, citizens who "do the right thing" by paying their TV licenses need to know what Mr Mpofu thinks of a great many of them who happen to be white. Like Mr Mangcu, the IFP will also question Mr Mpofu's commitment to non-racism if, indeed, it is his view that "over his dead body" will whites ever exert any influence within the SABC. The IFP would go further and question his commitment to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Mr Mpofu is said to have written this article at the time of the now infamous "blacklisting" controversy which led to the SABC initiating the "Marcus - Sisulu Commission of Enquiry" - whose recommendations have quite clearly been shelved by the Board and the Executive of the SABC. Fortunately for the citizens of South Africa, the Parliamentary Committee on Communications has no intention of letting this report fade away and die the quiet death some at the SABC obviously desire. The IFP therefore intends to ask Mr Mpofu, when the SABC Board and Executive next report to the Communications Committee in Parliament, whether this article did indeed reflect his views on white South Africans, and if not why had he not publicly retracted the obviously racist remark now referred to by Mr Mangcu. It would obviously be appreciated if Mr Mpofu could explain himself before this meeting. The IFP will also continue to rigorously engage the Board and its Executive on why they have to date failed to implement the Commission of Inquiry's recommendations.
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