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Cape Town – The SABC has so far stayed silent and refused to comment by Monday afternoon after longtime Good Hope FM radio DJ Nigel Pierce last week revealed that he was axed.
Nigel whose bio page and show download list was still promoted and available on Good Hope FM’s website on Monday afternoon, slammed GHFM in a series of videos to his thousands of fans and listeners on his The Radio Police Instagram page after he was absent on Friday from his regular Good Hope FM afternoon slot.
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Nigel Pierce reportedly dismissed from Good Hope FM
2019-03-09 15:38 Cape Town - Radio DJ Nigel has reportedly been dismissed from Good Hope FM. On Wednesday the host of the afternoon drive show, The Nigel Pierce show announced on air that 29 March will be his final broadcast show on the radio station.
The shock jock is apparently one of the freelance SABC talent getting fired like Ashraf Garda at the SABC’s SAfm radio station at the end of this month.
He was allegedly taken off the airwaves and his Radio Police slot, immediately after he told viewers on the air on Wednesday that his last day is going to be 29 March.
According to Nigel, he refused and never signed any confidentiality agreement that was presented to him on Wednesday.
Neo Momodu, SABC spokesperson was asked in a written media enquiry on Monday why Nigel Pierce’s contract wasn’t renewed, and for comment about his statements over the weekend, as well as why he was allegedly blocked from entering the SABC’s building on Friday if his contract only ends on 29 March, but there was no response by Monday afternoon from the SABC.
CONTRACT NOT RENEWED
"Wednesday morning at 10 I went in for contract negotiations. I was told my contract would not be renewed. It had been renewed for 15 years, so there's a high expectation of permanency within that particular environment,” explains Nigel.
"I went on air at 5 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon; told listeners my last show would be 29 March 2019. I again told them on Thursday; nothing malicious. On Friday I got a note, in the foyer of the SABC, saying my services are no longer required for the remainder of my contract."
"I was also locked out of the studio – access denied – I was not told that my access was denied when I reported for duty on Friday afternoon. Sad. Very, very sad," explained Nigel.
"I do have a few questions for Good Hope FM. How can I be in so-called breach of contract if I didn't sign the confidential letter, and why did Good Hope FM allow me on air when I told them before the meeting on Wednesday that I would not be signing the so-called confidentiality letter?" he asked in another video.
"When I was moved to the afternoon show, we showed double-digit growth," he says. "Did a staff member, or staff members at Good Hope FM have a hand in my dismissal?"
He further alleges that it was claimed that he only gave 10% to his Radio Police show after being moved from the morning to the afternoon and that he was called "a risk to the brand". He said walking into show meetings at Good Hope FM is “like walking into a gas chamber”.
Nigel further alleges that he was often belittled in front of team members during meetings and that it was "no wonder team members started chastising me and denigrating me on the air".
He also alleges that there were often "veiled threats" which he asked Good Hope FM management to stop doing – of being removed from the show or being moved to other timeslots on the SABC station. Planning meetings at the station were allegedly often haphazard with no agenda and no pre-planning.
“So I was told on Wednesday morning at that ‘contract negotiation’ that Good Hope FM had made a loss for two years. I’ve also been told many times that Good Hope FM is a music radio station – in other words, I don’t talk for an hour. Most of that hour is made up of music. And then coupled with that, you’ve got to have a good PR and marketing strategy that runs in tandem with programming. So who’s responsible for losses at Good Hope FM for it not being profitable?” Nigel asks in one of his video messages. “Is it the station manager? Is it the programme manager? Is it the marketing manager? Is it the music department? Is it PR? Is it all of the above?
