Tumi Morake has had an interesting journey on Jacaranda FM and it has shown her strength, her fearlessness and that she is a woman who can speak her mind and stand her ground. Following the whole debacle after her "racist" comments on radio, the silence from Jacaranda FM is deafening.
My gripe is how the station is not coming out to say to its listeners that they support what Tumi said. What's worse is that no one has come out to condemn the abuse, the insults and the harassment that Tumi is facing daily from their racist listeners.
It is disappointing that listeners were taking dribs and drabs of what Tumi said to suit their personal view and not discuss the content of what she said. They couldn't wait to hurl insults and insinuate that she was an animal that needed to go back to the bush. This kind of racist behaviour is unbecoming and is indicative of the intellectual capacity of these entitled listeners. How unfortunate.
AfriForum has decided to no longer pursue their complaint against Tumi. Why? There was no basis, no grounds and nothing to complain about Tumi. This was an emotional decision in the first place which shows that AfriForum doesn't operate on principle, but only to serve their selfish agenda. Where was AfriForum during the KFC assault that was exposed by #CountryDuty for instance?
This is a great opportunity for JacarandaFM to show its current and potential listeners what it stands for.
There are too many incidents to mention where AfriForum could have done some good and they simply chose not to. This is the reason we have movements like Country Duty that will use all forms of social media platforms to mobilise and open debates so we tackle the social and racial ills that continue to cripple us.
The station manager, Kevin Fine, released a statement on behalf of Jacaranda FM, which is all well and good. Unfortunately, that statement is not enough; it can never be enough -- not from an employer. There are reasons why Tumi was brought on board in the first place and I'm hoping one of those reasons was to help turn the station around, to bring fresh views and perspective.
This is a great opportunity for Jacaranda FM to show its current and potential listeners what it stands for, that it is a nonracial radio station that will not tolerate any form of racism and that it distances itself from such an audience.
Jacaranda FM as a responsible station that operates in a modernised society cannot sit on the fence with the fear of losing listenership and then compromise the end goal of building a great society that we can all be proud of.
The truth needs to be spoken, no matter how uncomfortable and catching feelings will not make it go away.
I wish Jacaranda FM all the best and hope they will grab this moment to effectively take a stand and be in the forefront by calling out the racism that's clouding their station.
I pray they find the courage and the strength to stand with and for Tumi, even at the risk of losing listenership. May Jacaranda FM recognise that Tumi Morake is the voice they so desperately need because she speaks for the many faceless black people that would never get a chance to express their views on the Jacaranda FM platform.
The truth needs to be spoken, no matter how uncomfortable and catching feelings will not make it go away. With spring and the jacaranda trees doing their best, maybe that's a sign for Jacaranda FM to do things new in this new season.