Alex Dodd
A wave of dissent has been rising this week in response to implications that Tim Modise’s appointment as SAfm’s prime time morning talk show host has been tokenistic.
The news that Modise would be taking over from Will Bernard, host of Talk at Will, broke last week. At the time, even Bernard took the opportunity on air to describe Modise’s appointment as an attempt to expand the radio station’s black listenership.
What went unsaid was that Modise is one of the most well-respected broadcasters in South Africa. He currently hosts PM Live and has won two awards for current affairs programmes he presented in his 18-year career in broadcasting.
The Citizen’s editorial on Monday read: “His [Bernard’s] axing holds a few lessons. First, supporting the new order is not enough if you want to keep such a job. Mr Bernard dealt unsympathetically with callers whose politics were incorrect. They were subjected to ridicule and had their calls cut short. But he has the wrong complexion.
“He [Modise] doesn’t deserve any hostility which may be directed at him for what is patently a racial move by the SABC, in line with the ruling philosophy that sacrifices everything at the altar of transformation.”
Many, like AM Live host Sally Burdett, feel the suggestion that Modise has been awarded the position purely by virtue of his skin colour is deeply insulting to such a highly experienced broadcaster.
“It has less to do with affirmative action and more to do with the nature of the business,” said Burdett. “Tim Modise has broad appeal and is hot property in any colour … “
When the affirmative action tag gets bandied about, says Burdett, it often means the person walks into the job under the implied assumption they’re not good enough for the post and that is “deeply unfair”.
This sentiment was echoed by others at the station who said it was “nonsense to think of Tim’s appointment as affirmative action … For one thing he’s on air already and it’s not as though we’re desperately trying to Africanise or tokenise. Tim is an excellent broadcaster and a great talk show host.”