SAfm's Perlman signs off

2007-03-02 10:44

Johannesburg - Broadcaster John Perlman finished his stint as SAfm current affairs talk show host on Friday after a run-in with his bosses over the blacklisting controversy last year.

"Thanks very much for having me, it has been a fabulous nine years," was how veteran broadcaster John Perlman ended his last show.

He thanked his listeners for their letters and the "wonderful time" they had spent together. He also thanked the SABC for the wonderful platform that they had given him for the past nine years.

During the show, handled with his customary aplomb, he made no mention of his reasons for quitting or where he was heading to.

Perlman who is leaving the public broadcaster under a cloud, resigned in January after nine years of presenting the morning current affairs programme.

Media reports alleged that Perlman's resignation was linked to the blacklisting of commentators.

"The reasons are complicated," Perlman was quoted in Friday's Mail&Guardian as saying, when asked why he was leaving.

His decision came a few months after he contradicted SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago's assertion that there was no political interference in the broadcaster's choice of political commentators on live broadcasts.

When JR, one of the show's regular callers, asked where he was going, Perlman quipped: "I am going home".

He said that he had not made up his mind about his next career move.

'The popular After Eight Debate will live on'

"What I am going to do this weekend is go to the Drakensberg, then I am going to go to the Pilanesberg and then I am going to go to the Kruger National Park and I am going to think very carefully about what I do next," said Perlman.

He said the popular After Eight Debate would live on.

"It will run and run and run. It's now a real fixture on the radio landscape."

Perlman also went down memory lane - replaying some of his best clips including his very first show which he hosted alongside etv news reader Sally Burdett.

Describing his first day presenting the show Perlman said: "I sat there like a little boy at school I brought a lot of food with me?I had lined up in front of me three different coloured pens and I think I had a ruler.

"I had no idea of what I would do with this ruler, but I had all these thing and I was sitting there with eyes like a deer in the headlamps and Sally ambled in at two minutes to six," said Perlman.

One regret he had about his show was that he never got to interview Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Perreira - who has constantly been in the media spotlight for his exorbitant salary.

A full-page "Tribute to John Perlman" was published in the Mail&Guardian on Friday. In it he was praised for his "informative, inspiring and highly professional" presence.

Praise for Perlman but SABC critisised

It was however highly critical of his employer.

"We are appalled that the SABC seems oblivious to the talent at its disposal. Perlman is the latest in a list of high-quality journalists who have been sidelined or hounded out of the organisation," read the message.

"The SABC has accused Perlman of bringing the organisation into disrepute. In fact, the organisation has brought itself into disrepute.

"The current leadership has undermined our trust in the SABC, and in its ability to fulfil its constitutional mandate," it read.

It was sponsored by a team of individuals, journalists and organisations including advocate Wim Trengove, Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) director Jane Duncan, Market Theatre artistic director Malcolm Purkey, the Media Institute of Southern Africa and the South African Football Players' Union.

The FXI recently laid a complaint about the SABC, related to blacklisting of commentators, with the Independent Communications Authority of SA.

Despite all his fans, one listener sent Perlman a scathing email, reproduced in the Mail&Guardian.

"Good riddance," wrote the unnamed man.

"I hope the SABC learns from its mistake and spares us these apartheid apologists masquerading as professional journalists."

Veteran anchor Jeremy Maggs would take over the show from next Monday.

- SAPA