SABC comments after KG Moeketsi goes public over SAfm contract termination

Veteran broadcaster Kgomotso “KG” Moeketsi has gone public with her account of how her SAfm contract came to an end, and the SABC has now broken its silence on the matter.

Moeketsi, who hosted SAfm’s weekend jazz show Seasons and joined the station in April 2020, says her contract was terminated on 15 July following an internal investigation led by the station’s new Programme Manager, Ferdinand Mabalane.

According to her account, the trouble began on 30 May, when a listener took offence to a cheeky remark she made on air after being asked to play a song request. She says she brushed off the exchange as minor, but the following day the studio suffered a major technical breakdown roughly 40 minutes into her broadcast, forcing “Main Control” to step in for close to two hours.

Moeketsi says she was frustrated that management appeared more focused on her exchange with the listener than on the on-air technical failure, and that after raising concerns in a strongly worded email on 1 June, she was suspended days later. She claims she only learned of her suspension when she arrived at the station on 6 June to find she’d been pulled from the schedule, having missed the suspension letter due to phone storage issues.

The veteran broadcaster, who is also the mother of actor and media personality Dineo Langa (formerly Moeketsi), says she met the deadline to respond to a subsequent charge sheet. However, she claims she was never given full clarity on the additional allegations reportedly being probed. She also alleges that payment for a show she presented on 6 June was withheld while the investigation was underway.

The investigation concluded on 15 July, when Moeketsi was told her contract had been terminated for an alleged breach of contract – a finding she strongly disputes.

“My concern is whether the process was fair, transparent and consistent,” she said of the decision, adding that she had signed a two-year contract that only began in April this year.

Moeketsi, who says she would have marked three decades in radio next year had she stayed on, insists she isn’t seeking her job back. Instead, she says she wants accountability and an independent review of whether her contract terms were honoured.

She told her followers that she is now raising funds to pursue the matter in the High Court, framing the decision to go public as being about more than just her own case. Additionally, she says she’s had messages from other presenters and freelancers who feel they’ve faced similar treatment without the means to fight it.

The SABC responds

The Citizen reached the SABC for comment, and SABC spokesperson Mmoni Ngubane said:

“SAfm management can confirm that Ms Moeketsi’s contract has been terminated following an internal process. The SABC will not comment nor engage further on this matter. It’s important to note that should Ms Moeketsi wish to appeal the decision, she has the right to do so.”

The response confirms the termination but does not engage with any of the specific allegations Moeketsi has raised about the process, the timeline or the withheld payment.

Who is Ferdinand Mabalane?

Mabalane is a veteran of South African commercial radio, with a career stretching back to the 1990s. He was involved in the launch and early management of Kaya FM in Johannesburg in 1997 and of GABZ FM in Gaborone, Botswana, in 1999. He later served as Station Manager of Power FM from its 2013 launch, the Johannesburg-based commercial talk station backed by MSG Afrika Investment Holdings.

Mabalane’s move into an acting Programme Manager role at SAfm earlier this year was itself reported to have caused friction inside the SABC, per IOL, with some staff questioning why a broadcaster over the age of 60 was brought into an acting position around the same time other staff in that age bracket were said to have exited the organisation. The SABC has previously defended such appointments as being about retaining specialist experience and continuity in key roles.