Coronavirus: Another eNCA staffer dies, longtime graphic designer Michael Wilson had Covid-19.

by Thinus Ferreira

Another eNCA (DStv 403) staffer has died from Covid-19, with the eMedia TV news channel that said that graphic designer Michael Wilson had passed away from the coronavirus.

Michael Wilson's death on Monday comes almost two-months after the eNCA cameraman Lungile Tom died in mid-May.

Michael Wilson was diagnosed with Covid-19 on Thursday and he died 4 days later in hospital. He was admitted to hospital on Tuesday 30 June 2020 with Covid-19 related symptoms from possible exposure.

Since then eNCA anchors and reporters like Shahan Ramkissoon and Heidi Giokis have tested positive for Covid-19 and eMedia has had to shutters studio space in Zonnebloem in Cape Town and Hyde Park in Johannesburg for deep-cleaning with workers who had to stay home and self-isolate and its eNuus edition done for kykNET (DStv 144) that had to broadcast a pre-recorded episode in late-June.

Similar to eNCA, rivals SABC News (DStv 404) and Newzroom Afrika (DStv 405) have battled to balance covering the news as colleagues at both TV news channels across South Africa fell ill with Covid-19.

Michael Wilson who was part of eNCA's graphics team who joined e.tv 14 years ago in August 2006. Over the years Michael Wilson had worked on Morning News, e.tv's Sunrise morning show, and various eNCA's shows.

eNCA anchor Sally Burdett told viewers that "Mike, we will remember you for your dry sense of humour, and your commitment to your craft. Condolences go out to his family and friends."

In a statement on Tuesday eMedia Investments said that it "saddened by the loss of one of our graphic designers, Michael Wilson, our colleague and friend, working for eNCA, based in Johannesburg.

Jody Jacobs, eNCA's operations manager, says "Michael, known to many as Mike, joined eNCA in August 2006 and has dedicated his craft to our business with passion and diligence in the last 14 years".

"Michael will be remembered for his dry sense of humour and personable nature. His presence in the newsroom will be missed. Our thoughts are with his Fiancée, Reinette, family, and friends during this difficult time".

eMedia says that it will follow government regulations and safeguard staff by taking the necessary precautions, including disinfecting common use areas and equipment in the Johannesburg office.

"We have also instituted a tracing and tracking process. All employees who had contact with Michael have been advised to stay at home pending testing. They will be tested and subsequently go into self-isolation."

Coronavirus: Lockdown of eMedia Investments' e.tv building in Cape Town for a Covid-19 deep-clean after cameraman Lungile Tom's death, over 70 staffers sent into home-quarantine to self-isolate for 14 days.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Cape Town building of eMedia Investments, housing etv News and eNCA, abruptly shuttered on Wednesday following the shocking Covid-19 death of cameraman Lungile Tom with the Zonnebloem suburb building that will be undergoing a deep-clean as the lockdown sent more than 70 staffers to home-quarantine where they will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

It leaves e.tv's news division in one specific quandary for now: Without Cape Town-based reporters and cameramen who can roam outside to report on-location from Cape Town and the immediate surroundings for eNCA (DStv 403), eNuus on the kykNET (DStv 144) and kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) channels, and e.tv's etv News bulletins.

Those who can, will be able to file stories cloistered from inside their homes in Cape Town but they won't be in the streets and on-location for the time being or interacting with the public.

The temporary Cape Town building closure -  the complex housing the offices, newroom and studio space of etv News and eNCA - and with over 70 staffers self-isolating, will place a heavier burden on eMedia's Hyde Park office and studios in Johannesburg that will be shouldering a bigger remote reporting responsibility when it comes to covering news from Cape Town and the Western Cape province.

Nuruniesa Allie, e.tv head of news and sport, told eNCA and etv News on Wednesday night from self-isolation in her home that "tonight the entire building is undergoing a deep-clean and only once the officials are satisfied with that process will we be issued with a certificate to allow people back into the building".

Nisa Allie said that "we've undergone a track-and-tracing process. That is basically identifying every member of staff who had direct contact with Lungile Tom, so they have gone to be tested".

"For the rest of us, because we operate in an open-floor space, the rest of us are in 14 days of self-isolation from the last time that Lungile had been in the office."

"It's an extraordinary time for our company - for many companies around South Africa. And all of our attention and effort is going into our staff and ensuring that they continue to be safe and to abide by government regulations," said Nisa Allie.

The eNCA anchor Sally Burdett said that thoughts also go out "to our e.tv family, particularly in Cape Town where I know everyone is absolutely gutted and devastated" over the death of Lungile Tom.


ALSO READ: Coronavirus: e.tv cameraman Lungile Tom fondly known as 'Marawa' who worked for eNews and eNCA dead from Covid-19, staffers who had contact will be tested and told to stay home. 
ALSO READ: etv News boss Nisa Allie pays tribute to cameraman Lungile Tom who died from Covid-19: The loyal 'fist-pumping guy who documented everything and who liked a muffin and coffee for breakfast'.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus: eNCA anchor Sally Burdett on the Covid-19 death of cameraman Lungile Tom as more details are revealed: 'It's just so sudden and so shocking and so desperately sad.'
ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Tributes flow after Covid-19 death of etv News and eNCA cameraman Lungile Tom: 'A tender, older-brother figure whose physical size made you feel safe and secure no matter where we were reporting from'.

Coronavirus: eNCA anchor Sally Burdett on the Covid-19 death of cameraman Lungile Tom as more details are revealed: 'It's just so sudden and so shocking and so desperately sad.'

by Thinus Ferreira

After the shocking Covid-19 death of e.tv's etv News and eNCA (DStv 403) cameraman Lungile Tom on Wednesday morning in South Africa, the eNCA anchor Sally Burdett on Wednesday night described it as "just so sudden and so shocking and so desperately sad" as more details were revealed about the dramatic way his health rapidly declined and he passed away.

eMedia Investments was stunned over the news of the cameraman's death on Wednesday morning who became one of the latest victims of the global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic in South Africa, with South Africa's TV news and media fraternity who mourned his untimely passing.

Lungile Tom (45) who worked for e.tv's eNews and eNCA (DStv 403) TV news channel got sick last week and died within days.

On Thursday morning last week he was still fine and reported for work with his temperature that was taken and that was normal. By Thursday evening he was getting very, very sick. By Sunday he was hospitalised and three days later he was dead.

Nisa Allie, e.tv's head of news, on Wednesday night on e.tv and eNCA (DStv 403) in a simulcast broadcast of the etv News TV news bulletin, spoke about Lungile Tom and said that "on Wednesday and Thursday [last week] he didn't report anything during the course of the day".

"On Thursday night he contacted his line-manager and said that he wasn't feeling well, that he would go to the doctor on Friday and that he would advise as to what the doctor said. Over the weekend his condition deteriorated and by Sunday night he was rushed to hospital by ambulance."

"On his admission, staff tested him for Covid-19. His symptoms seemed to be in line with that, and by Monday he had been admitted into the intensive care unit (ICU)," she said.

"The test results came back in the late hours of last night, confirming that he did, in fact, have Covid-19 and sadly, and devastatingly, earlier this morning we got news that he had passed away."


ALSO READ: Coronavirus: e.tv cameraman Lungile Tom fondly known as 'Marawa' who worked for eNews and eNCA dead from Covid-19, staffers who had contact will be tested and told to stay home. 
ALSO READ: etv News boss Nisa Allie pays tribute to cameraman Lungile Tom who died from Covid-19: The loyal 'fist-pumping guy who documented everything and who liked a muffin and coffee for breakfast'.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Lockdown of eMedia Investments' e.tv building in Cape Town for a Covid-19 deep-clean after cameraman Lungile Tom's death, over 70 staffers sent into home-quarantine to self-isolate for 14 days.
ALSO READ: Coronavirus: Tributes flow after Covid-19 death of etv News and eNCA cameraman Lungile Tom: 'A tender, older-brother figure whose physical size made you feel safe and secure no matter where we were reporting from'.

e.tv's eNews unveils the new grey-and-red set inside its revamped Hyde Park studio for its TV news bulletins.

e.tv's eNews bulletin on Monday night revealed the revamped set of its news studio from where it will continue to do its daily TV news bulletins inside its Hyde Park headquarters.

The news studio is housed in the same building as eMedia Investment's eNCA (DStv 403) TV news channel.

The eNews studio revamp follows the unveiling of eNCA's "white-wash walls" revamp in mid-July a month after eNCA's 10th birthday.

"Good evening, and welcome to our new eNews studios," said Sally Burdett, eNews anchor, as she opened Monday night's TV news bulletin on e.tv at 20:00.

e.tv issued no advisory or press release to the media ahead of time or afterwards about the studio revamp.

The new eNews studios with predominant grey and red tones and four wall monitors, is evocative of a sports show set and has one larger TV screen with a circular white base "bar table" with a transparent top, from where the main news is read by a standing news anchor.

The right hand side wall has a rectangular and segmented grid approach with red relief.

Two horizontal red lines criss-cross the right hand side wall and is reminiscent of the corridors of the set of the USS Enterprise 1701-D on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles whenever there was a red alert in the mid-1980's show Star Trek: The Next Generation.

EXCLUSIVE. Sally Burdett returns to anchor e.tv's 8pm TV news bulletin from Monday 4 December.

TVwithThinus has learnt that the highly respected and veteran TV news anchor Sally Burdett will return to her former on-screen role as news anchor and will again become the TV face of e.tv's flagship TV news bulletin from Monday 4 December at 20:00.

The experienced Sally Burdett who previously anchored the e.tv news and also filled in on eNCA (DStv 403) will permanently return to the e.tv news bulletin from this coming Monday night.

Sally Burdett has been the head of the anchor team at eNCA with years of experience at the eMedia Investments' channels following years of being an journalist and news anchor at the SABC previously.

As part of the senior editorial team she will continue to work behind the scenes and to help the team develop new talent.

"I am delighted to be back on e.tv, on a bulletin I have always loved," says Sally Burdett. 

"The news at 20:00 will be to-the-point and hard-hitting, continuing a fearless tradition of seeking the truth."

"In this era of fake news, state capture and information overload, I see my job primarily as helping audiences navigate a path through a pivotal time in our country’s history."

"We are glad to be able to infuse an experienced, authoritative energy into our news offering. Sally has always been a credible and consistent voice on the broadcast news circuit,” says Phathiswa Magopeni, head of terrestrial news.

"Sally is no stranger to South African viewers and we are thrilled to welcome her back to e.tv’s lineup," says Marlon Davids, e.tv managing director.

"She is a formidable journalist who brings a wealth of experience and gravitas to our news offering. Our prime time English news bulletin has always defined the direction of our news and current affairs programming on the channel and we are confident that our viewers will continue to enjoy the refreshed bulletin." 

The lunchtime news bulletin on etv will continue to be anchored by Duduzile Ramela on weekdays.

BREAKING. eNCA shutting down its Beijing bureau; shunting longtime Asia correspondent John Bailey back to Johannesburg.

You're reading it here first.

I can report that eNCA (DStv 403) is shutting down its Beijing news bureau and shunting its longtime Asia correspondent John Bailey back to Johannesburg.

The shocking Beijing closure forms part of the South African 24-hour TV news channel's ongoing and dramatic international retraction of reporters who were stationed on the ground outside of South Africa's borders.

The baffling Beijing closure ties in to the ongoing and painful shuttering of the Sabido-owned news outfit's offices and news bureaux across the African continent, with the dramatic downsizing which has resulted in retrenchments since April and saw correspondents and on-air talent leave.

While eNCA warned in March that it is leaving Africa because that part of its news service has become unsustainable and that it will cover the rest of the continent with wire news and freelance reporters where big stories warrant it, nothing was said about its other news bureaux like London and Beijing - where the axe is now coming down.

eNCA insiders are scared and upset about the moves caused by budget constraints and fear the "dumbing-down" of the South African 24-hour TV news channel provided to MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform and which will celebrate its 7th anniversary next month since it launched in June 2008.

While eNCA's China bureau chief John Bailey is for instance forced to return home, insiders point to eNCA apparently working on a new showbiz programme to be introduced soon to try and lift ratings, presented by Tanya Nefdt and Amy MacIver with Sally Burdett as producer. eNCA has not yet responded to a media enquiry asking about this development.

South African TV news channel rivals already pad their schedules with entertainment shows like ANN7 (DStv 405) with Star Biz and Sizzle and SABC News (DStv 404) with Afro Showbiz News.

In response to a media enquiry eNCA confirms its shutting down its Beijing bureau, saying John Bailey will be returning to South Africa and continue working for eNCA in the Johannesburg office.

"The closing of the Beijing bureau formed part of the reationalisation of the Africa division and will close at the end of June. eNCA will continue to cover China and the region through freelance reporters in the area," says eNCA.

Sally and Sally: With red-rimmed glasses, Sally Burdett on the eNCA imitates Sally Jesse Raphael with the same name and look.

On the left: Sally Burdett, news anchor on e.tv and eNCA (DStv 403). On the right: Sally Jesse Raphael, former American talk show host.

The similarities? Well, both are called Sally.

Oh, and South Africa Sally is wearing red-rimmed glasses just like American Sally.

It's not clear why South Africa Sally would specifically choose red-rimmed glasses.

As a news woman over decades and working in television, its a given that South Africa Sally must be keenly aware of American Sally who always wore (and still does!) red-rimmed glasses as her signature look.