/ 27 September 2011

‘No regrets’ as newsreader fired for salty screed

Eyewitness News fired newsreader Mark Esterhuysen on Tuesday after he swore 13 times and promoted his blog, Twitter and Facebook feeds during a news bulletin.

Esterhuysen tweeted that he had “no regrets about my bulletin”.

EWN editor Katy Katopodis said he had been summarily dismissed.

Although she had been unable to reach Esterhuysen by phone, a letter of dismissal had been delivered to his house.

“We can’t tolerate that kind of behaviour. I don’t think it’s appropriate to use our platform, which is credible, to promote your own agenda,” she said.

A 41-second clip, purportedly of the broadcast, on the website twitvid.com had garnered 35 000 views by Tuesday afternoon.

In it a man who identifies himself as Mark Esterhuysen, says: “Fuck racism, fuck the pigs who killed Andries Tatane, fuck the AWB, fuck racism. We are all wild animals here, meant to live free. Fuck capitalism, fuck fascism. Fuck this fucking wage slavery shit. Fuck domestication, fuck Julius Malema, fuck the state. Fuck the petrol economic growth on a finite planet.”

On his Twitter feed, he identified himself as “an enemy of the state, a defender of anarchy, a proud member of the primate clan, a cunning linguist, and a master debater”.

“Just like Jerry Maguire, I have lost the ability to bullshit. I’ll accept the consequences,” he tweeted on Monday.

He said all he wanted in life “is for @GarethCliff to read my blog”.

His most recent blog on markesterhuysen.blogspot.com was on the role of sport in modern South Africa, from an anarchist’s perspective.

Other topics dealt with the futility of civilisation. — Sapa