Early end to Mbeki interview
06/12/2007 08:50  - (SA)  

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Cape Town - An early end to a radio interview with President Thabo Mbeki, broadcast live from Pretoria by the SABC on Wednesday evening, appears to have taken at least one of the broadcaster's programme presenters by surprise.

Billed as a two-hour interview with Mbeki in his capacity as ANC head, with opportunity for listeners to phone in and pose questions, the SABC ended the interview - which started on time at 19:00 - around 20:15.

Moments after the interviewer had thanked Mbeki for his attendance, and listeners for their questions, an out-of-breath female presenter came on air to announce the start of the next programme, Durban After Dark.

She confessed to thinking the programme was supposed to start at 21:00.

"You're confused? We're equally confused!" she said, then jokingly suggested the president had decided to make way for the next programme.

SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago explained later that the president had another engagement to attend to.

The interview had been scheduled to start at 19:00 and provisionally end at 20:30, "with the option that he (Mbeki) might continue up to 21:00", said Kganyago.

"Obviously if the president had another engagement we can't insist he stay. But we had done most of the interview... we had done an hour and 15 minutes by then," Kganyago said.

- SAPA

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