South African radio newsreader fired after “going rogue” on the graveyard shift
Pensioners listen to the radio while waiting to collect their pensions near former South African President Nelson Mandela’s village of Qunu.
A South African radio newsreader has committed career suicide by swearing 13 times during a news bulletin while working the graveyard shift.
Mark Esterhuysen, who was reading the 1 a.m. Eyewitness News bulletin, launched into a bizarre profanity-laden rant in which he used the F-word repeatedly, the South African Press Association reports.
A 41-second clip of the broadcast went viral in South Africa after being posted online.
"Good morning, I'm Mark Esterhuysen," the newsreader says, before launching into an angry diatribe that references South African current events and directs listeners to check out his blog and Twitter feed.
"Mark literally goes rogue, f-bombing anything from 'racism' to 'perpetual economic growth on a finite planet.' And there is also a little bit about us all being wild animals," says South African website 2OceansVibe, describing the unusual news bulletin.
"Some 40 seconds after going rogue, his producer managed to drown him out with a Rod Stewart track."
A news editor said that Esterhuysen, who was a junior news editor and desk editor, had been summarily fired.
SAPA reports:
On his Twitter feed, he identified himself as an enemy of the state, a defender of anarchy, a proud member of the primate clan, a cunning linguist, and a master debater.
His most recent blog was on the role of sport in modern South Africa, from an anarchist perspective. Other topics dealt with the futility of civilization.
Esterhuysen later posted on Twitter that he had "no regrets about my bulletin."
The audio is below — and a warning that it is not for delicate ears.