Former Lotus FM news reader and author Vanessa Tedder says she has been asked to testify before the SABC Commission of Inquiry investigating allegations of sexual misconduct at the station.
In May this year, the SABC launched the Commission led by Barbara Watson to probe sexual harassment and editorial interference across all platforms within the public broadcaster led by Dr Joe Thloloe.
Meanwhile, the SABC has also launched a forensic investigation into sex-for-jobs allegations and an alleged plot to purposefully destroy the station in order to privately acquire it from the SABC. These claims are said to be detailed in a dossier compiled by some staff including freelancers.
Tedder recently released a book titled “Beaten but Not Broken” where she reveals sexual and physical abuse she suffered during a relationship with a former Lotus employee.
She says there has always been a culture of men preying on female colleagues at the station.
“I’m not really surprised by what I’ve been reading in the newspapers given my own experience of what transpired in the corridors of the SABC back when I was there. We’ve always known there’s been a culture of males, especially males in management and male presenters who have been using the station as their personal playground to prey on not just female staffers but also female listeners as well. I have been asked to testify before a commission of inquiry into sexual allegations at the SABC .So I have had an interview or a conversation with the commission, I’ve been brutal, frank, open and honest.”
