Today is D-day for Jacaranda FM management to respond to trade union Solidarity's memorandum about comedian and breakfast show co-host Tumi Morake's alleged racist comments.
"We are giving them two business days, today [Monday] and tomorrow [Tuesday] to decide what they want to do and if they don't then we will look at taking it further," according to Solidarity researcher Connie Mulder.
On Friday, the union said if Jacaranda FM did not formally respond, it could possibly be joining an undisclosed number of people who have laid complaints against Morake with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCCSA). The organisation said it would also be exploring other avenues to resolve this matter.
In the memorandum, Solidarity wants the station to take action against Morake, whom they believe made racist comments about white people. It also wants the full recording of the conversation that led to Morake making the infamous bicycle analogy. Solidarity also wants to be part of an open dialogue with the station where issues around race will be discussed; however, it does not want to use the station's platforms.
"We are asking for an open discussion in a more structured way about these issues," Mulder told HuffPost SA.
"Thus far, from Jacaranda's side, we have heard a monologue, we have been told what to think and the other [side] is not represented," he elaborated.
The comedian and actress has been deluged with hate mail following her analogies about the effects of apartheid on the Jacaranda FM breakfast show, where she is a co-host.
Morake said "apartheid was about the oppression of black people" this past Tuesday.
She said all race groups were just expected to unite after the demise of apartheid without any form of retribution. She then employed a bicycle analogy that was perceived to be offensive by many of the station's mostly white, Afrikaans-speaking listeners.
"It's like a child whose bicycle was taken forcefully away from him and then you say to the bully, 'no, no, no, share the bike together, don't be like that,'" Morake said.
The trade union said it hoped to resolve the matter without having to take any further steps.
"We can have a discussion about how to solve this amicably while still keeping everyone's interest at heart," Mulder said.
Jacaranda FM's general manager, Gavin Meiring, has declined to comment on the issue as it is still been handled by the BCCSA.
Boicot Jacaranda
Many of Morake's collegues and supporters have come out in her defence, saying they see nothing wrong with her comments. However, some of the station's listeners have gone as far as starting a Facebook page against her.
The "Boikot Jacaranda" Facebook group has already attracted 24,000 people who say they will no longer be listening to the station as long as she is still part of the breakfast show.