Following news woman Debora Patta out the door and Shahan Ramkissoon who left the eNCA, is Macfarlane Moleli who resigned at the end of May without the eNCA saying a word about it. Lance Witten is now also gone; he upped and left the eNCA to go back to radio.
Then there's also Charlotte Kilbane the online editor of the eNews online division who left and who insiders consider a big loss for the news channel.
The eNCA's Patrick Controy, the group head of news at the eNCA, tells TV with Thinus that there "are more people coming through the front doot than leaving out the back".
'"eNCA staff numbers have been increasing since April 2012 from 500 to 546 staff, which is an increas of 9%. For context - in May 2010 the staff total came to 338, which means our growth over this period is 62%," he says.
"This figure of 546 will increase as we fill vacancies and recruit staff for new positions which have opened up in our business."
"It is true tht a number of staff have resigned to join PowerFM. In April we had 12 resignations on file, of which nearly half have gone to the radio station. While we hate to lose staff we are in the position however of having highly trained and skilled personnel who are easily poached."
"Primedia has also lost a significant number of staff to PowerFM which makes total sense. We're probably the only two broadcasting companies training and producing talent at this level . The SABC has largely failed to do so in recent years in my view," says Patrick Conroy.
"I view it as a compliment that eNCA staff are considered to be well trained, professional and skilled. If they were not in demand by local and international broadcasters, I'd actually be a bit miffed."
"Of course when a high-profile person like Debora Patta leaves, it is understandable that to outsiders it comes as a shock. We've been in discussions with Debora Patta for months about the future and format of 3rd Degree, and ultimately she felt it was time to move on and do something different. It is perfectly normal in this business. Things change and people move on."
Over the past five years Charlotte Kilbane mentored her successor in Cape Town and then stepped back to hand over the Cape Town editor post to Nisa Allie doing an incredible job taking our product forward. Charlotte then agreed to hold off on leaving us and assist with the launch of www.eNCA.com."
"Her television experience and online insights really helped make the launch of this site a huge success. Currently it is ahead of all targets set in our business plan," says Patrick Conroy.
