COSATU open letter to the BCCSA

16 May 2018

Att: The Director

Re:Heart 104. 9 biased reporting, to help DA to kick out De Lille, because City pays them

Dear Sir

Please receive correspondence from our offices in relation to the biased reporting and non compliance with protocols by Heart 104.9.  

The matter relates to the programme presentation of the Breakfast show on the 16 May 2018 on the Mayor of Cape Town. The sources we have in the radio station tells us that this is part of the Airtime bought by the City of Cape Town through their advertising agency, albeit in a hidden way . The show in an attempt to seem to be unbiased then also calls De Lille on the Programme. However the discrepancies and inequities in the time allocated and the opportunity to prepare to shape the narrative is clear in the way the 2 interviews unfold. The show appears to be constructed to reveal certain facts and we hear that the DA had discussed the questions with the station prior.  The fact that the City of Cape Town has a huge contract with Heart FM gives them leverage to force the station to air the DA lies on the radio. It’s called extortion.   The following outlines the anomalies in the way the show was presented.   

Masoni claims that they were innocently invited onto the show, without advertising agency involvement. She also later claimed that the DA just wanted a fair bite at the Cherie, when clearly De Lille was not given a fair bite. Mayor was just called adhoc on the morning, and she did not even have the decency extended of being warned to listen to the interview.

This is clearly a case where the DA is using advertising agency and Radio station time that was paid for by the City of Cape Town for the DA party use [corruption].

The presentation of the lame duck scenario was presented by the DA and taking forward by the station, which is essentially the DA narrative. It is factually untrue as it represents no difference from previous practice in Governance, in the City of Cape Town. Mayors are subject to the party line and caucus discipline.

The breakdown of relations with De Lille is with the DA liberals who are the white guard who dictate to the party, not with the members and supporters of the DA. The old white guard who has been in control of the DA forever does not like uppity blacks, who think for themselves. Masoni is brought into try and talk the DA out of something they have behaved themselves into , because the local DA leadership under Twigg and JP Smith, are to incompetent to present a coherent argument of lies .  

COSATU raises this matter, not because we think that De Lille was a champion of the poor, when she was in the good books of the DA, and pushing their pro white agenda. We raise this matter because we think that all workers no matter in what position must be treated fairly. We will also do all we can to stop the naked racism of the DA, that continues to disregard black people and reduce them to just votes of convenience.

We have previously raised the question that airtime bought must be declared on the radio station prior to the story , so listeners can know that this is just advertising to try and present one side of a story. We ask that this matter be investigated by the competent authority and that the findings be made available to the public .

Yours faithfully,

Tony Ehrenreich, Provincial Spokesperson, COSATU Western Cape, 16 May 2018