THE ANC Youth League ensured that YFM DJ Sbu Leope was back in his
booth this morning, after he was booted off the station for backing the
ruling party, writes Gabisile Ndebele in The Times.
Leope was placed on leave on Monday after being spotted on the stage at the ANC’s Siyanqoba rally in Johannesburg on Sunday, dancing and posing for pictures with party president Jacob Zuma.
ANCYL president Julius Malema said yesterday that his party did “not agree with what the station didâ€ÂÂ.
“They can’t do that to someone just because he showed support to a particular party. We held a meeting with station management yesterday and Sbu will be back at work tomorrow [today],†Malema said.
Leope’s fellow YFM DJs Bonang Matheba and Oskido also supported the ANC in a campaign pamphlet published on Sunday, but they were not suspended.
In a statement, YFM’s programme manager, Tumelo Diaho-Monaheng, said the station was “distressed at suggestions that it would deny any South African the right to freedom of associationâ€ÂÂ.
“DJ Sbu and all employees of YFM have the constitutional right to be associated with and to vote for the party of their choice,†he said.
“YFM itself is bound by its licence conditions and by the Broadcasting Code of Conduct to ensure that it remains impartial at all times .â€ÂÂ
However, after the meeting with the youth league, the station reinstated Leope.
Click here to read the full report, posted on thetimes.co.za.
