Broadcaster John Perlman finished his stint as SAfm current-affairs talk-show host on Friday after a run-in with his bosses over the blacklisting controversy last year.
”Thanks very much for having me, it has been a fabulous nine years,” was how Perlman ended his last show.
He thanked his listeners for their letters and the ”wonderful time” they had spent together. He also thanked the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) for the wonderful platform that it had given him.
During the show, handled with his customary aplomb, he made no mention of his reasons for quitting or where he was heading to.
Perlman, who is leaving the public broadcaster under a cloud, resigned in January after nine years of presenting the morning current-affairs programme.
Media reports alleged that Perlman’s resignation was linked to the blacklisting of commentators.
The Mail & Guardian reported in February that Perlman resigned because his bosses did not include him in a decision about who his new co-presenter would be.
Nikiwe Bikitsha announced her departure and Perlman expected to be included in auditions for her successor as the show is broadcast as a doubleÂÂheader and its success depends on a rapport between the two presenters. Perlman had been included in deliberations about previous appointments but was excluded this time.
”The reasons are complicated,” Perlman was quoted in Friday’s M&G as saying, when asked why he was leaving.
His decision came a few months after he contradicted SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago’s assertion that there was no political interference in the broadcaster’s choice of political commentators on live broadcasts.
When JR, one of the show’s regular callers, asked where he was going, Perlman quipped: ”I am going home.”
He said that he had not made up his mind about his next career move.
”What I am going to do this weekend is go to the Drakensberg, then I am going to go to the Pilanesberg, and then I am going to go to the Kruger National Park and I am going to think very carefully about what I do next,” said Perlman.
He said the popular After Eight Debate would live on. ”It will run and run and run. It’s now a real fixture on the radio landscape.”
Perlman also went down memory lane — replaying some of his most memorable clips, including his very first show, which he hosted alongside e.tv newsreader Sally Burdett.
Describing his first day on the job, Perlman said: ”I sat there like a little boy at school … I brought a lot of food with me … I had lined up in front of me three different coloured pens and I think I had a ruler. I had no idea of what I would do with this ruler, but I had all these things and I was sitting there with eyes like a deer in the headlamps and Sally ambled in at two minutes to six.”
One regret he had about his show was that he never got to interview Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira — who has constantly been in the media spotlight for his exorbitant salary.
A full-page ”Tribute to John Perlman” was published in the M&G on Friday. In it he was praised for his ”informative, inspiring and highly professional” presence.
It was, however, highly critical of his employer.
”We are appalled that the SABC seems oblivious to the talent at its disposal. Perlman is the latest in a list of high-quality journalists who have been sidelined or hounded out of the organisation,” read the message.
”The SABC has accused Perlman of bringing the organisation into disrepute. In fact, the organisation has brought itself into disrepute. The current leadership has undermined our trust in the SABC, and in its ability to fulfil its constitutional mandate,” it read.
It was sponsored by a team of individuals, journalists and organisations, including advocate Wim Trengove, Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) director Jane Duncan, Market Theatre artistic director Malcolm Purkey, the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the South African Football Players’ Union.
The FXI recently laid a complaint about the SABC, related to the blacklisting of commentators, with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.
Despite all his fans, one listener sent Perlman a scathing email, reproduced in the M&G. ”Good riddance,” wrote the unnamed man. ”I hope the SABC learns from its mistake and spares us these apartheid apologists masquerading as professional journalists.”
Veteran anchor Jeremy Maggs will take over the show from next Monday. – Sapa