South Africa’s broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, has said Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the country, Femi Fani-Kayode, declined an interview invitation following his protest over the exclusion of his speech from a livestream of a diplomatic ceremony hosted by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The SABC, in a statement issued on Sunday, said it regretted the envoy’s decision but remained open to engaging with him and the Nigerian High Commission.
The response followed Fani-Kayode’s complaint that his introduction and speech were omitted from the broadcaster’s livestream of the presentation of letters of credence ceremony held at the Sefako Makgatho Presidential Guest House in Pretoria on Friday.
“We regret that the High Commissioner declined an interview with SABC News, reportedly because of his dissatisfaction with the livestream of the ceremony. We respect his decision and remain open to engaging with him and the Nigerian High Commission,” the statement said.
Notably, the SABC did not address the specific allegation that Fani-Kayode’s presentation was excluded from the livestream of the ceremony.
The broadcaster, however, rejected the description of it as a state broadcaster, insisting that it was a public service media organisation committed to independent, impartial and credible journalism.
