Jimmy Da Scratcher breaks the silence

Jimmy Da Scratcher, the former PhalaPhala FM DJ, has broken his silence and released a statement wherein he vows to fight to get his job back.

The SABC dismissed Jimmy Da Scratcher (whose real name is Jimmy Netshilulu) from his duties at the radio station last month, citing vaguely that he had “been defrauding the station”.

Jimmy’s departure left fans fuming and several of them turned to social media sites such as Facebook to voice their discontent. A petition page was even set up online to call for his reinstatement.

For several days, the linear flow of live programmes on PhalaPhala FM was disrupted with listeners who called in and used strong language on air, saying that they didn’t want other hosts but Jimmy on air.

All along Jimmy Da Scratcher’s phone was switched off and the man himself was unreachable.

On Sunday he broke the silence and released a three-page-long media statement wherein he lashes out at the SABC. “I am disputing the termination of my employment and, in this regard, a legal process has already been served to the SABC,” he said, and added that he was acting under legal advice.

Jimmy Da Scratcher's statement also alleges that there are many other presenters or employees at PhalaPhala FM who are frustrated with conditions at the broadcaster. “[T]his issue … has (the) potential of a watershed outcome which would help free all of my colleagues in similar circumstances from bondage,” he said.

He emphasises that his dismissal was unlawful. “The termination of my employment was not for a lawful reason and the procedure used was unfair,” he said. “It was done for ulterior motives. All allegations against me, particularly the allegation that I ‘defrauded’ the SABC, are a fabrication.”

He is now challenging the SABC to make available all evidence to back up their allegations. “It does not take a rocket scientist to deduce that if it is true that I defrauded the SABC, criminal charges would have been laid against me,” he said. “The fact is that I served the SABC with honesty, loyalty and commitment for more than 18 years.”

Jimmy Da Scratcher indicates that he tried to make efforts to have the “issue” between him and the SABC resolved amicably, but to no avail. “I will reveal and prove in due course that irrelevant considerations were considered or relevant considerations were not considered by the SABC when the decision to terminate my employment was taken,” he says.

The national spokesperson for the SABC, Mr Kaizer Kganyago, said this week that the SABC was made aware of the fact that Jimmy Da Scratcher had taken his case to the CCMA.

Kganyago said, however, that people who called the SABC studio and swore at presenters were just being unfair. “People must stop involving themselves in issues that they do not understand,” he said. “Just imagine if it were you sitting in that presenter’s chair and having people whom you do not even personally know, swear at you.”

Date:11 March 2016

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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