Here’s a piece of advice for all those South Africans who live life in the public eye – think before you tweet, because if you so much as put a toe out of line you will get pounced upon.

We’re talking of course about Gareth Cliff, whose tweet from Monday in the wake of the Penny Sparrow saga has drawn serious heat. Let’s just take a look at the tweet in question as a recap:

And that tweet he was referencing:

Take a moment to consider the tweet to which he was actually referring. Then this from IOL:

Idols SA judge Gareth Cliff’s future with the M-Net station will be reviewed, the company said on Wednesday.

M-Net CEO Yolisa Phahle said: “Gareth Cliff is not currently contracted to M-Net and we will be reviewing his future employment with the company”…

On Tuesday Cliff apologised saying: “With regard to free speech and hate speech, I need to continue my education”.

M-Net did not elaborate on what action would be taken.

Filming for the current season of Idols SA is already underway.

Unfortunately it is too late for them to pull the plug on the latest series of Idols then, that’s horrible news in itself. I’m no Gareth Cliff fan, I don’t actually listen to your major South African radio stations because I think they’re all piss poor, but is everyone not just buckling to public pressure when it comes to incidents like these?

Don’t keep the guy on for Idols, I don’t watch the show and I don’t care, but to yank someone from a position every time we kick up a stink sets a dangerous precedent.

[source:iol]