Lesedi FM’s Chomane Chomane accused of homophobia

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Chomane Chomane  (Pic: Lesedi FM)

Chomane Chomane (Pic: Lesedi FM)

Lesedi FM presenter Chomane Chomane has been accused of making offensive and homophobic comments on his breakfast radio show.

Zenny Kgolokwane, from the LGBTI group Free State Rainbow Seeds, heard the remarks on Wednesday during the show’s “Motho mpe motho” (hook me up) segment, in which listeners call in with the hope that they’ll be helped to find a date or a partner.

In this instance, a gay male listener phoned in to the studio and was, according to Kgolokwane, treated disrespectfully by Chomane.

Kgolokwane told Mambaonline that the radio personality offensively referred to the caller as “di gay”.

Making matters worse, he then, she said, went on to ask the caller who will “play the woman role” in the relationship, which the man refused to answer.

Kgolokwane claims that Chomane further asked the embarrassed caller to list his talents because most gays know how to do hair and dance.

“The questions he asked the caller were totally unacceptable and rude,” Kgolokwane said.

“Chomane is heard by taxi drivers, hawkers and people who are getting ready for work and he has a huge impact in their lives. Lesbians get raped because of ‘trying to be a man’ comments they receive in the street,” she explained.

Kgolokwane called on Chomane to apologise on air and educate his audience about sexual orientation and gender diversity “and not create a bigger problem whilst the LGBTI population is trying to remove that stigma”.

She added: “We as an organisation try so hard to teach people and change behaviour and thanks to Chomane we’ve taken five steps backwards. I was angry and ashamed.”

On the Lesedi FM website, Chomane – seen by many as a radio legend – is described as being “highly informed”. The site also says that “he empowers himself by reading and possesses an unmatched ability to inform, entertain and educate the listener”.

Kgolokwane sent a complaint to the Bloemfontein-based Sesotho language station about the incident through its Facebook page.

Speaking to Mambaonline, Programmes Manager Wire Khoali confirmed receipt of the complaint. He said that it had been forwarded to Chomane for his comment and is being dealt with by the SABC Broadcasting Compliance department.

Lesedi FM is the fourth largest radio station in the country, with almost 3,5 million listeners.

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