Ashwin ‘not race issue’

It’s going to take time to unearth exactly what happened on a SuperSport set when Ashwin Willemse walked off saying he did not need to be patronised by Nick Mallett and Naas Botha on Saturday evening during a live broadcast.

That’s according to the station’s CEO Gideon Khobane, who said last night he was positive it was not a racially motivated issue “because all parties were very courteous during our discussions that started this morning.

“There must be something deeper and we are trying to get to the bottom of this. No one would just walk off stage. We are engaging with all parties involved,” said Khobane.

MultiChoice CEO Calvo Mawela added the three men were still willing to work together and nobody’s job was on the line.

Khobane said robust debate had always been encouraged.

“We don’t think it’s a racially motivated issue because if it were, it would be easier to come to a solution. We are in the process of discussing it further because this is now a national issue.”

Mawela said they were “going deeper into people’s feelings”, and needed more engagement on the issue.

It remained business as usual, said Khobane, adding it would not be fair at this stage to take anyone off the air.

“All three need a bit of time to reflect on what happened. You can imagine that the past 48 hours has been a crazy whirlwind. They haven’t been able to sleep, eat or engage with their families,” said Khobane.

They denied that Mallett had walked out of their meeting, saying he had simply had a flight to catch which necessitated him to leave early.