eNCA senior anchor Andrew Barnes has been suspended following his mockery of Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s pronunciation of certain words on air.<\/p>\n
“We have begun disciplinary measures against Andrew Barnes. Andrew has been taken off air with an on air apology being broadcasted this afternoon,” the broadcaster told News24.<\/p>\n
Barnes made the initial remark while the broadcaster aired extracts from Motshekga’s speech she delivered when announcing the results for the 2015 matric year on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
After cutting back to Barnes at the end of the snippet, he said: “Maybe someone should have a word with the Basic Education minister about how to pronounce the word ‘epitome’.”<\/p>\n
eNCA said Barnes’ comments were “not only hurtful and unnecessary, but deeply insensitive”, and also apologised for the incident.<\/p>\n
South Africans on Twitter have not taken kindly to the remark, after Sport and Recreation spokesperson Esethu Hasane posted a video clip on the platform questioning Barnes\u2019 comment on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Some have since stated that the remark was unnecessary and unprofessional. Others highlighted that Barnes himself struggled to pronounce Motshekga\u2019s surname in the same sentence.<\/p>\n
Barnes offererd an apology shortly after the incident.<\/p>\n
“My heartfelt apologies for the hurtful comment I made about the Education Minister’s English today. You all expect more of me. I’m sorry,” he said.<\/p>\n
His apology received mixed reaction, with some opting to forgive him, while others flat out rejected it.<\/p>\n
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