eNCA (DStv 403) confirmed to TVwithThinus on late Thursday afternoon two resignations: That the eNCA anchor Cathy Mohlahlana has quit after her recent demotion from prime time back to an afternoon timeslot, and that reporter and anchor Thulasizwe Simelane is leaving.
Their last day at eNCA will be on 29 March, just a month and a week before South Africans vote in another general election.
eNCA hasn't announced replacements.
Insiders told TVwithThinus days ago that both Cathy Mohlahlana and Thulasizwe Simelane decided to quit the eMedia Investments' news channel carried on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform.
eNCA, in response to a media enquiry asking for confirmation earlier this week about word that both high-caliber on-air personalities decided to resign and leave, didn't answer when asked why Cathy Mohlahlana is leaving and why Thulasizwe Simelane is leaving.
Speaking about the latest high-level defections from eNCA, Jeremy Maggs, acting eNCA editor, says in a statement to TVwithThinus that "Both Cathy and Thulasizwe have proved in the field and behind the anchor desk to be valuable and respected staff members. They have brought integrity to their work. We are going to miss their empathetic and incisive style of journalism".
Cathy Mohlahlana last month took over anchoring duties of the eNCA Now timeslot between 13:00 and 15:00 after she was promoted to being a co-anchor on eNCA's flagship prime time show NewsNight where she served for a year and 8 months until she was bumped back to dayside on the eNCA schedule in January 2019.
Cathy Mohlahlana says in a statement that "in the past 8 years at eNCA I have had the opportunity to learn and grow while working with some of the best in television news and I'll forever be grateful. Thank you to the eNCA audience which embraced me from being a reporter to an anchor".
eNCA made the experienced political reporter Thulasizwe Simelane an afternoon anchor in May 2018.
Thulasizwe Simelane in a statement says "eNCA has been and will always remain my home, a place that shaped and moulded me, and gave me tremendous growth opportunities over the past 6 years. I will miss my colleagues but am confident they've deposited enough of the 'e-DNA' in me to carry me to great heights in my next venture".
