Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - The SABC has cautioned its listeners never to negotiate advertising airtime with any of its presenters following a complaint against a social media account bearing the name of SAfm news anchor Cathy Mohlahlana.
An Award-winning author based in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, nearly paid R10 000 to secure an interview on SAfm.
The author, Godfrey Malibe, approached the Pretoria News when he grew suspicious of the amounts demanded from him when he was only trying to promote his latest book ‘Happily Ever After’.
Malibe is a recipient of the African Honoree Authors Award, which recognises authors from all over the continent. Happily Ever After is his fourth book.
“SABC has a dedicated sales team responsible for the corporation’s airtime negotiations and this team does not include on-air personalities. Therefore, the SABC warns the public to not negotiate any airtime pricing with anyone else except designated sales personnel,” said SABC group executive for corporate affairs and marketing, Gugu Ntuli.
SAfm, which has more than 190 000 listeners, is one of SABC’s 18 radio stations across South Africa.
Ntuli said the information that they investigated from Malibe’s WhatsApp conversations with the social media user revealed that it was a scammer using Mohlahlana’s name to make money from unsuspecting business owners.
“SAfm management can confirm that the cellphone number in question does not belong to Ms Cathy Mohlahlana and it is regrettable that there are individuals who are using Ms Mohlahlana’s name to scam the public,” Ntuli said.
According to Malibe, the “payola” saga unfolded when he sent a message to a Facebook account under the name Cathy Mohlahlana.
The account has more than 2 000 followers and contains inspirational posts and Mohlahlana’s photographs.
The author said he immediately asked for official correspondence about the required amounts and also demanded the physical address where the interview would take place.
“I wanted information on their physical studios and for formal communication to be sent via email but I was told that everything would be sent to me as soon as I made a deposit into an account belonging to Mohlahlana’s ‘secretary’.
“The initial amount required was R6 000. It escalated to R10 000 in case I wanted to be interviewed by Mohlahlana herself. The person kept pressuring me to make the deposit but I stated that I frankly had no idea they charged for interviews.
Malibe said he decided to approach the Pretoria News with his suspicions because he felt something was off.
“Last year I was interviewed for my third book on SABC TV without paying anyone. I was surprised that Mohlahlana was now demanding payola for an interview. Something told me it could be a scammer because payola is illegal, unless the radio station has a policy that requires that we make payment,” he said.
The author added that he was planning a book launch in Joburg and wanted it to coincide with the interview.
He said banking details were sent under a name said to belong to the secretary, but he eventually decided not to deposit any amount until he got answers.
“I want answers. If this is a scam, struggling business owners stand to lose. It would only be fair for the SABC to work with the police based on the information I made available so that no one falls for such tactics in future. If the problem is in-house, action should be taken against anyone involved,” said Malibe.
When contacted for comment, Mohlahlana did not answer direct questions, including whether she charged people for interviews or not.
“As you are aware, the SABC is conducting its own investigation into this matter and will be handling all the responses in this regard. The only thing to clarify is that I don’t have a Facebook account,” said Mohlahlana.
Pretoria News