/ 30 March 1999

‘RACIST’ EDITOR FIRED

THE managing editor of Inkatha Freedom Party-owned Durban daily Ilanga has been fired following a disciplinary hearing. Amos Maphumulo’s dismissal follows an editorial last week in which he accused whites and Indians of oppressing blacks and wished for the birth of a new Idi Amin in South Africa. The editorial was criticised from across the political spectrum, and embarrassed the IFP. A statement by KwaZulu-Natal IFP MPL Arthur Konigkramer, who heads the newspaper’s holding company, said: “Maphumulo will be given another position in Ilanga in which he will not be in a position to influence public opinion and his work will be supervised by a more senior colleague.” Maphumulo said: “I apologise unreservedly to all those to whom the editorial gave offence.”