The spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Vincent Magwenya, has engaged in a fresh exchange with Nigeria\u2019s High Commission in South Africa over the controversy surrounding the omission of Ambassador Femi Fani-Kayode\u2019s speech during a diplomatic ceremony.\n<\/p>\n
Magwenya described the Nigerian mission\u2019s claim that Ramaphosa intervened in the matter as a lie.\n<\/p>\n
He insisted that the South African President had neither the legal authority nor the political mandate to interfere with the operations and editorial decisions of the South African Broadcasting Corporation.\n<\/p>\n
The latest exchange followed a response by the Nigerian High Commission to Magwenya\u2019s earlier criticism of Fani-Kayode\u2019s protest over the omission of his speech from the live broadcast of his presentation of letters of credence.<\/p>\n
In a response to Fani-Kayode\u2019s statement on Friday, Magwenya said on X, \u201cYour Excellency, I deeply regret that I have to address you through a public platform. However, now that you have falsely referenced the President on a matter he has no involvement in, I\u2019m duty bound to clarify your misrepresentation of facts.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIn South Africa the President does not intervene on operational matters at the public broadcasters, neither did he intervene on your behalf. He simply pointed you to @Sophie_Mokoena who was the most appropriate person to raise your grievance with.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYour Excellency, you refused to speak to @Sophie_Mokoena who would have cleared the misunderstanding with you. I would encourage you, that as you start your tenure in South Africa you meet with SABC to forge a mutually beneficial, respectful and professional relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe SABC is a public broadcaster. The President carries no legal or political mandate to interfere with its operations or intervene in it\u2019s editorial processes. Frankly, your approach in this regard on a minor operational issue which you misunderstood was grossly inappropriate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish you well on your tenure and I hope you begin to engage the various aspects of South African society and it\u2019s constitutional tenets constructively.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
However, the Nigerian High Commission, in a response on Saturday, defended Fani-Kayode, saying the ambassador and, by extension, Nigeria had been treated with contempt.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Ambassador, H.E. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, @realFFK was treated with contempt and disdain and by extension so was Nigeria.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cH.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who we have the utmost respect for, did the right thing by intervening. We got the result we wanted. End of story,\u201d the mission said on X.\n<\/p>\n
Magwenya subsequently rejected the mission\u2019s account, insisting that neither Ramaphosa nor the Presidency intervened in the operations of the broadcaster.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when it\u2019s institutionalised, a lie remains a lie. There was no such intervention from the President or the Presidency and there will never be.<\/p>\n
\u201cRead our constitution and laws and familiarise yourself with the SABC editorial code. Stop disgracing yourself and your country,\u201d he replied. <\/p>\n