When Gareth Cliff said on his show that “most 22-year-olds are laying on their backs with their legs open at 22, or else they are drinking” he wasn’t being a hater. This after the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) found him innocent of hate speech, following a complaint by a listener.

It all started on 8 September when Cliff interviewed a lady called Angela Larkan about her humanitarian activities. The woman, now 27 years old, had started her humanitarian programme when she was 22 years old. During the on air discussion Cliff made mention of her very young age and remarked that to have started her programme at such an early age was commendable because as he stated “girls of 22 usually do nothing but lie on their backs with their legs open”, according to the complaint made to the BCCSA.

BCCSA chairman Kobus van Rooyen said the reference to “girls” or “women” by the complainants was because of a misquote by newspapers.

Whatever the presenter [Cliff] said, he did not make a sexist reference. One might infer that he referred to females since the person interviewed, Ms Larkan, is a female. It was nothing more than an outrageous, probably ill-chosen, comparison.

5FM station manager, Aisha Mohamed, said that they are “delighted” at the ruling while Gareth claimed that it is insulting to be called a sexist.

[Source: Channel 24]