Somizi Called To Order
Idols SA judge; Somizi Mhlongo has been called to order by SANEF following his social media weekend meltdown where he insulted two journalists from City Press and Sunday World.
SANEF is a non-profit organization whose members are editors, senior journalists, and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media.
The organization promotes excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research, education, and training programs.
They have called for action against Mhlongo and have requested Multichoice to distance themselves from his nasty comments on social media.
Mhlongo insulted Sunday World acting editor, Kabelo Khumalo, and Julia Madibogo of City Press on Instagram, this past weekend.
Khumalo from Sunday World requested Mhlongo to comment following the controversy surrounding the halting season 2 of his cooking; Dinner At Somizi’s. The show has apparently been halted following accusations of intellectual property theft. The concept of the show was brought forward by Hasting Moengs who claims he is the brains behind the show and is now demanding compensation for season one of the show.
Mhlongo also insulted City Press journalist; Julia Madibogo by exposing her numbers on social media. She requested Mhlongo on rumors that they are divorcing with his partner Mohale Motaung.
SANEF released a statement that read:
“We believe this is irresponsible in the extreme and potentially unlawful conduct. Mhlongo has a massive support base and a following in excess of almost 4-million on the Instagram social platform and his followers have resorted to intimidation and harassment of journalists on all social media platforms. They have subjected both Madibogo and Khumalo to torrents of insults and threats.”
What angered SANEF was the fact that Mhlongo shared the contact numbers of the journalist resulting in Somgaga’s fans making endless calls to the journalists and allegedly threatening their lives.
“Some have directly threatened Madibogo and Khumalo’s wife with rape while Khumalo received threats to his life. The fans also threatened the safety of the journalists’ families. They have tormented them for doing their jobs and asking questions in line with the Press Code that demands of journalists to give a right of reply to everyone they intend to write stories about.”
Mhlongo has since deleted the posts and SANEF has ordered Mhlongo to apologize for his actions.
“SANEF calls on Mhlongo to unreservedly apologize to these journalists and the public on all his social platforms for his unbecoming behavior. He must call on his followers to stop harassing and intimidating them. Further, we call on the journalists to lay charges of intimidation and for MultiChoice to officially distance themselves from Mhlongo’s comments.”
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