South African public broadcaster, SABC, has terminated the contract of Lotus FM radio presenter Ravi Govender after he called President Jacob Zuma a “zombie”, the SABC confirmed on Monday.
Govender called Zuma a “zombie” on his personal Facebook page, previously telling News24 that those comments had been made in anger.
He posted his comments following the opening of the ANC’s 5th Policy Conference, which is currently underway at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg.
“I posted what I posted on Facebook out of anger. I should have known better. He sounded [while delivering his speech] dead to me, no feelings, no punctuation at all,” Govender had said.
In a statement, SABC spokesperson, Kaizer Kganyago, confirmed that Govender’s contract had been terminated.
Kganyago then went on to say that Govender would immediately stop work at Lotus FM, and was concerned that the outspoken presenter had put the SABC into disrepute.
Govender hosted South Africa’s popular Vinyl Countdown show on Fridays from 19:00 to 21:00, according to the Lotus FM website.
Govender, as well as station manager Alvin Pillay, declined to comment.
