Veteran radio broadcaster Kgomotso “KG” Moeketsi says she is taking the SABC to the High Court after she was fired from SAFM and allegedly denied payment for work she had already completed, arguing that her dismissal was unfair and breached the terms of her contract.
In a public statement released on Wednesday, Moeketsi said her contract with SAFM was terminated on 15 July following an internal investigation led by the station’s programme manager, Ferdinand Mabalane. She also claimed the SABC withheld payment for a programme she presented on 6 June, despite an audio recording confirming the broadcast took place.
Moeketsi said she had initially chosen not to speak publicly out of respect for the broadcaster and in the hope that her concerns would be addressed internally. However, after receiving what she described as no meaningful response from SABC executives and board members, she decided to make her account public.
She alleged that tensions began shortly after Mabalane’s appointment in March when he publicly claimed she had played a role in his departure from Kaya FM years ago because he had hired her – an allegation she said was inaccurate.
According to Moeketsi, the events that led to her dismissal began after she responded to a listener’s WhatsApp request for a song during her programme on 30 May by saying: “Why don’t you play it for yourself though?” She maintained that the remark was intended to be light-hearted and consistent with the format of her music discovery show.
The following day, she said, the station experienced a major technical failure that disrupted her broadcast for almost two hours while engineers attempted to restore transmission.
Moeketsi said she later received a message from Mabalane asking her to respond to an email. Believing it related to the technical failure, she was surprised to discover it instead centred on the WhatsApp exchange with the listener.
She said she struggled to understand why a serious transmission breakdown affecting listeners, advertisers and sponsors appeared to receive less urgent attention than a private exchange with a listener.
After sending a strongly worded email raising concerns about the technical failures, Moeketsi said she was suspended.
She claimed she only became aware of the suspension when she arrived at the station on 6 June to present her programme and found another presenter had already been scheduled in her place.
