The spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Vincent Magwenya, has rebuked Nigeria’s High Commission in South Africa over its handling of the controversy surrounding the omission of Ambassador Femi Fani-Kayode’s speech from a live broadcast of a diplomatic ceremony.
Magwenya accused the Nigerian mission of spreading false information by claiming that Ramaphosa personally intervened after the Nigerian envoy protested the omission of his address.
In a strongly worded response on X, Magwenya maintained that the South African President neither intervened in the matter nor had the constitutional authority to interfere with the operational and editorial decisions of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
The latest exchange followed a response by the Nigerian High Commission, which defended Fani-Kayode and insisted that the South African President had intervened after the incident.
Addressing Fani-Kayode in an earlier post, Magwenya said it was regrettable that he had to respond publicly to the ambassador but was compelled to correct what he described as a misrepresentation of facts.
He explained that Ramaphosa merely referred the Nigerian envoy to Sophie Mokoena, whom he identified as the appropriate official to whom complaints about the broadcast should have been directed.
According to him, Fani-Kayode declined to engage with Mokoena, who could have clarified the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Magwenya advised the Nigerian ambassador to establish a cordial and professional relationship with the broadcaster as he begins his diplomatic assignment in the country.
He said, “The SABC is a public broadcaster. The President carries no legal or political mandate to interfere with its operations or intervene in its editorial processes. Frankly, your approach in this regard on a minor operational issue which you misunderstood was grossly inappropriate.”
He further urged Fani-Kayode to familiarise himself with South Africa’s constitutional provisions and engage constructively with different aspects of the country's society.
However, the Nigerian High Commission, in its Saturday response, stood by the ambassador, maintaining that Nigeria had been treated with disrespect during the ceremony.
The mission said the omission of Fani-Kayode’s speech amounted to an affront not only to the ambassador but also to Nigeria as a country.
“Our Ambassador, H.E. Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, @realFFK was treated with contempt and disdain and by extension so was Nigeria.
“H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who we have the utmost respect for, did the right thing by intervening. We got the result we wanted. End of story,” the commission stated.
Magwenya subsequently dismissed the claim, insisting that neither Ramaphosa nor the Presidency intervened in the operations of the public broadcaster.
“Even when it’s institutionalised, a lie remains a lie. There was no such intervention from the President or the Presidency and there will never be.
“Read our constitution and laws and familiarise yourself with the SABC editorial code. Stop disgracing yourself and your country,” he replied.
The disagreement originated on Friday after Fani-Kayode accused the South African Presidency of deliberately excluding Nigeria's delegation from the livestream of a ceremony at which Ramaphosa received letters of credence from 15 ambassadors.
The event, held at the Presidential Guest House in Pretoria, featured the presentation of credentials by the ambassadors, with their introductions and speeches reportedly transmitted live.
Fani-Kayode, however, complained that the broadcast was suspended when it was Nigeria's turn to make its presentation and resumed only after he had delivered his address.
The ambassador subsequently said he confronted the issue with Ramaphosa during a photograph session after the ceremony.
According to him, the South African President summoned the officials responsible for the broadcast and directed them to resolve the matter immediately.
“Right there in my presence he questioned them and directed them to resolve the issue immediately. Sadly, by then it was too late and Nigeria had been left out,” Fani-Kayode said.
He also expressed appreciation to Ramaphosa for what he described as his prompt intervention, although he regretted that Nigeria's address had already been excluded from the live transmission.
Magwenya, however, offered a different account, insisting that the President did not interfere with the broadcaster's editorial independence but simply directed the ambassador to the appropriate official to lodge his complaint.
In the aftermath of the controversy, the South African Presidency published the full recording of the ceremony, including Fani-Kayode's speech, on its YouTube channel.
In his address, the Nigerian envoy pledged to work towards strengthening diplomatic relations between Nigeria and South Africa, describing his appointment as an opportunity to rebuild ties and address areas of mutual concern.
He also recalled Nigeria's historic support for South Africa during the anti-apartheid struggle and called for stronger cooperation between the two countries.
The ceremony marked the first posting of a substantive Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa in four years, according to Fani-Kayode.
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