A former employee of ZiFM Stereo, known by the Twitter handle @ThembiTerry, has taken to social media to recount her experience of workplace bullying by a popular presenter at the radio station.
The incident was brought to light in her response to a tweet questioning why South African radio presenter Lerato Kganyago only spoke out about bullying by her late colleague Kuli Roberts after her passing.
In her narration, Thembi describes how the ZiFM presenter bullied her, leaving deep emotional scars. She recounted an incident in which the presenter and another woman, now working at ZTN, openly mocked her clothing during her final wage pickup.
“When I was at ZiFM one of their presenters bullied me. Proper mean girl tings. When I went in to fetch my last wages, her and a woman who is now at ZTN openly made fun of what I was wearing. I never wore it again. It still hurts because those wounds just don’t go away.”
Despite the pain caused by the incident, Thembi admits she could not speak out earlier as the presenter was popular and had significant social influence.
“And you can’t say anything because she is a people’s fave. Everybody was wishing her HBD. You don’t wanna risk being outcast for speaking out against their own. And if people were to choose between you and her, would they choose you? Probably not, she is worth more socially. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Proverbs 18:8.”
Following the public revelation of the bullying, the culprits have since apologized for their actions. However, Thembi still feels the weight of the trauma caused by their actions, which they seem to have forgotten or dismissed as insignificant.
“I hurt my own feelings with that tweet. Yes, I have received an apology and although I remember it as if it happened yesterday, they don’t. How do you forget a moment that broke me? It meant nothing to you. You can barely remember it or me.”
