After I told you RIGHT HERE yesterday that SABC3 is ''seriously concerned'' about the TV channel's News @ 7 bulletin without Mahendra Raghunath, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has now come out demanding ''the immediate re-instatement'' of Mahendra Raghunath ''after he was suspended for speaking the truth''.
Mahendra Raghunath was taken off the air by SABC's head of TV news, Amrit Manga, after he allegedly spoke to the media about the intolerable conditions inside the SABC's TV news division. I can tell you that whether Mahendra Raghunath spoke to a media institution or not, the SABC TV news division has a much bigger problem. A massive amount of people in that division have spoken to me numerous times about alleged abuses, victimisation and bad management within the division over a long period of time - and continue to. Furthermore, as a news division, Amrit Manga and the SABC should very know that media institutions make use and talk to a myriad of sources for many stories on a daily basis.
The CWU says ''the suspension of Mahendra Raghunath is a continuation of the Snukification of the SABC news division by both the acting head of news Phil Molefe and the SABC's head of TV news, Amrit Manga. This is a clear demonstration that the two SABC news bosses are intolerant of dissent and abuse their positions of authority to silence and victimize workers. The failure by the SABC to heed our call for the immediate re-instatement of Mahendra Raghunath will reinforce our suspicion that the SABC News once more, is being bullied to pursue certain sectarian agenda similar to the ones pursued during the era of Snuki Zikalala.''
