RESPECTED journalist Max du Preez, the producer of the popular Special Assignment investigative programme, was fired by the SABC on Thursday. Du Preez was given his marching orders by editor-in-chief Phil Molefe on Thursday afternoon. “They said I am arrogant and don’t show respect,” Du Preez told Beeld . Last Saturday the programme, which will continue without its controversial producer-cum-presenter, won six Avanti awards, the yearly television industry prizes.
De Preez has been involved in a number of impressive journalistic ventures. After years in mainstream journalism, he was editor of Vrye Weekblad, a hard-hitting, alternative Afrikaans weekly launched in late 1988 and best known for its stories on third force violence. Du Preez turned to television five years ago; his work as producer of the Truth Commission Special Report won him a Foreign Correspondents’ Association Award last year.