Arabile Gumede the next anchor to dump eNCA in the ongoing exit of high-profile faces; leaves eNCA to join business channel Bloomberg Television.

Arabile Gumede is the next anchor dumping eNCA (DStv 403) in the ongoing exit over the last few months of high-profile faces at the eMedia Investments channel on MultiChoice's DStv.

The prime time business news anchor who courted controversy in 2014 and who was forced by eNCA channel bosses to apologise after saying "it's fine to be homophobic" will leave eNCA at the end of May.

Arabile Gumede is set to join Bloomberg Television (DStv 411 / StarSat 264) that has a much smaller viewership and presence in South Africa just like Eleni Giokos did in 2013 (and who has since left Bloomberg and moved to CNN International (DStv 401).

Arabile Gumede will remain based in South Africa for Bloomberg Television.

Arabile Gumede who joined eNCA in December 2013 from CNBC Africa (DStv 410) is leaving eNCA after just over two years and a half years after replacing Francis Herd who jumped to SABC News (DStv 404).

Known for his almost daily "or rather" interjection to apologise for reading mistakes, Arabile Gumede also became the sit-in presenter for eNCA's Moneyline when Siki Mgabadeli's not available.

After months of not improving and for his ceaseless and almost indefatigable on-air utterances of "or rather", TVwithThinus in May 2014 bestowed Arabile Gumede with the "worst person in all of prime time news on South African television" prize.

"It's been an incredible journey," says Arabile Gumede in a statement. "Learning from the great minds in local television news has been nothing but rewarding".

"It was a difficult decision to make, but one that allows me to nurture all that I can in the hustle and bustle of business journalism."

Mapi Mhlangu, eNCA channel news director says "Arabile Gumede is passionate about business reporting and a talented anchor. His departure is a loss to us but also a compliment for eNCA. He joins a number of former colleagues now pursuing international careers".

Siki Mgabadeli joining eNCA as senior business anchor; eNCA adds new half hour business show at 21:00 from Wednesday 1 October.

eNCA (DStv 403) is adding a new half hour business show which will be anchored by Siki Mgabadeli from Wednesday 1 October at 21:00 on weekdays.

Arabile Gumede will continue to do business updates on eNCA but the main business news and interviews will now be happening in the as yet to be named business strand.

Arabile Gumede will now be anchoring the Friday night spot of the business timeslot, with Siki Mgabadeli doing Mondays to Thursdays as eNCA's new senior business anchor.

"Often business and finance are viewed as too elitist. I want to take viewers on a journey about the subject that affect their daily lives," says Siki Mgabadeli who've done business news broadcasting at Summit TV, the former name of BusinessDay TV.

Recently she popped up on eNCAmore and more to anchor once-off specials, commentator and as radio-host doing cross-over simulcast broadcasts and was the talk shot host of the latest highly successful season of The Big Debate which the SABC dumped and which eNCA took over.

"Over the past few months Siki Mgabadeli successfully hosted The Big Debate on eNCA, so it was only natural that the channel will tap into her already well-recognised business talent," says Mapi Mhlangu, eNCA news director.

The worst person in all of prime time television news on South African television is ... Arabile Gumede on NewsNight on eNCA.

The worst person in all of prime time television news on South Africa television is Arabile Gumede on eNCA (DStv 403), the business news anchor during NewsNight - if eNCA values its news product he should be removed and shifted out immediately.

Arabile Gumede's under par presenting was immediately self-evident but TV with Thinus decided to wait a few months to be fair, and to not judge based on what might just have been one or two unfortunately bad broadcasts.

Sadly its now clear that his presenting and delivery skills will not, and did not, improve and that Arabile Gumede is not ready or qualified for prime time news - supposedly an earned and prestige position.

Having looked objectively at countless hours of eNCA, SABC News, ANN7 as well as all the terrestrial TV news broadcasts on the SABC and e.tv during prime time, Arabile Gumede tops the list of the worst person anchoring news coverage on South African television.

(Ironically Francis Herd who Arabile Gumede replaced and who jumped ship to SABC News, has managed to superbly lift the business news coverage on television during prime time on that TV news channel.

With incisive questions and interviews, and clever inserts and topics Francis Herd has shown so far this year on SABC News that sometimes it actually is the anchor who is also the the journalist and who is responsible for how good or bad the content of a segment in a news bulletin is.)

Pull basically any Arabile Gumede recording from the eNCA archives and you'll see how he weakens the front row of eNCA prime time presenters. He simply doesn't fit alongside brilliant prime time workhorses like your Jeremy Maggs, Iman Rapetti, Derek van Dam and James Lennox.

Arabile Gumede's favourite word apparently is "rather"- as in used when he makes mistakes. And because he often makes mistakes, eNCA prime time viewers lather in the "rather" and have for months.

Basically not a single broadcast goes by without Arabile Gumede not making some form of reading mistake on television - usually multiple mistakes.

Surely there can't be script problems every night? Surely the autocue isn't acting up every night? It leads to the conclusion that it is the person who is the problem.

Nobody else across competitor pay-TV news channels ANN7 or SABC News come across as bad anchoring as Arabile Gumede who just seems not quite right and "not quite there" in terms of solid business news presenting.

He often comes across as unsure of himself. He seems nervous. And Arabile Gumede mostly reads like a bad and untrained first year campus radio station news reader.

His inappropriate, and constant, faux sport coverage like double usage hand movements are completely wrong, too much, never-ending, off putting and perplexing. Has nobody told him? Is nobody telling him what to change?

Arabile Gumede's wide and faux extroverted arm and hand movements come across as superficially fake as a Mango airlines' air steward taking passengers through the obligatory emergency exits announcement.

It's bad that Arabile Gumede is on-air during prime time. It's worse that eNCA is making as if there's nothing wrong with him and keeping him in the position.

It is bad that eNCA either doesn't want to replace him, or that this is what eNCA considers to be the best, or its best person, to anchor business news during prime time.

Television and TV news is a visual and an auditory medium. Viewers - even channel loyal ones - will "momentarily" tune to another channel (and sometimes forget to come back) at the slightest whiff of any form of badness, unprofessionalism or irritability factors.

I'm sorry to say that Arabile Gumede tops the list of people in prime time, doing TV news in South Africa, who make me want to flip to another channel.

Unfortunately as a TV critic, I often have to keep watching. Just like the captive audience inside a Mango flight, unable to escape the often-awful emergency exit row in-flight demonstration.

BREAKING. eNCA's business anchor Arabile Gumede who says 'it's fine to be homophobic' forced to apologise as eNCA is embarrassed again.

The eNCA business news anchor Arabile Gumede who says "it's fine to be homophobic" has now become the second TV anchor at eNCA (DStv 403) having to apologise for actions on Twitter, once again embarrassing the 24-hour TV news channel.

Lance Witten who has since left as sports anchor, embarrassed eNCA in November 2012 with a Tweet following a concert tragedy in Cape Town which left one woman dead.

Now Arabile Gumede who joined eNCA recently has also been forced to apologise after writing a Twitter message in response to Uganda's new anti-homosexuality law. The business anchor Tweeted: "I think it's fine to be homophobic, but to imprison someone for life because of their sexual preference is quite hefty".

Arabile Gumede had to apologise. "My sincerest apologies for my tweet sent on 25 February 2014 regarding homosexuality and the anti-gay laws passed in Uganda. My tweet was not sent to incite anger, bring disrepute to eNCA, malicious intent or condone discrimination in any form," says Arabile Gumede.

"My hope was to relay a message that no one should impose their views on others either through death or any harm no matter what their views are on any social, judicial, economic or environmental issues. I am truly sorry, and take full responsibility for my actions," says Arabile Gumede.

eNCA has a social media policy which bans eNCA staff from making personal views public which are racist, sexist or which contain religious bigotry or prejudice on grounds of sexual orientation.