The station faced a backlash from social media users who
accused the channel of racism and unconscious bias, after Dentlinger last week
asked UDM deputy president Nqabayomzi Kwankwa to wear a mask during an
interview on the 2021 Budget Speech, while FF Plus leader Pieter Groenewald was
interviewed without a mask.
News clips also circulated online showing Dentlinger asking
other black politicians to put on their masks, right after speaking to
mask-less white politicians. She has denied this and eNCA is still
investigating.
“I totally acknowledge the outrage and I apologise for the
disrespect it has caused to the people who don’t deserve to be drawn into
this,” Dentlinger said on Monday evening in an interview with eNCA’s Power to
Truth with JJ Tabane programme.
“I felt awful from how this is perceived and what the
country believes to be a true reflection of who I am as a journalist. I do
acknowledge how it is portrayed. I am being portrayed as not speaking to any
black unless he is wearing a mask.”
Last week, eNCA managing editor John Baily said in a
statement the broadcaster had met with Dentlinger and concluded her conduct
“was not racially motivated or with malicious intent”. He said Dentlinger was a
seasoned journalist with more than 21 years of experience and she had
interviewed many high-profile politicians without anyone calling her conduct
into question.
“This incident represents an inaccurate and unfair image of
her work,” Baily said.
However, eNCA managing director Norman Munzhelele said the
statement could have been better and the company could have also finalised its
investigation into the matter quicker.
“I take accountability, it is a lesson and we will do
better next time,” Munzhelele said.
The UDM laid a complaint against eNCA with the Broadcasting
Complaints Commission of South Africa
and the SA Human Rights Commission over the incident. The IFP has
refused to be interviewed by the news channel.
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