There was chaos when Makhado FM's station manager, Mr Takalani Khomola, was ordered to take special leave on Tuesday, following allegations that he had allegedly harassed some of the female presenters. Khomola was given the special leave until further notice, pending an investigation.

The station came to a standstill when presenters protested against Khomola's presence. Although Khomola was handed a letter indicating that he was being placed on special leave, he refused to exit the station's premises. The station's CEO, Mr Junior Ramovha, had to call in the police to assist.

Khomola argued that he could not be asked to leave because he is a founder member of the station. Ramovha then produced documents that show that he (Ramovha) is a co-founder of the station. The police, however, failed to remove Khomola from the building as instructed by the CEO.

Presenters had to lock the station and also took the keys of the cars that the station is currently using that were provided by Werda Motors. Khomola insisted that he should be given the keys as he was still the station manager, but the presenters refused to hand them over.

Khomola told Mirror on Wednesday that he was not going anywhere and that he would continue with his duties as station manager. "I did nothing wrong. I cannot be suspended for something that I did not do. Ramovha does not have proof of the allegations," he said.

Ramovha said that Khomola was put on special leave until further notice, pending the finalisation on the investigation. "While Khomola remains on leave, I will have to meet with the board and discuss the matter next week," he said. He added that even though Khomola refused to take the letter, he would remain on leave.

Khomola is also accused of lying to the radio station's employees, promising them that they would receive their salaries last month, but to no avail. At the time of going to press, the workers were still waiting to get paid.

"It is not good that we are not being paid.  We are not happy about it and are tired of empty promises," said some of the presenters who commented, on condition of remaining anonymous. They added that Khomola had promised the presenters a salary of R6 000, while newsreaders would get R4 000. This apparently never happened.

They further indicated how difficult it was for them to go on air on empty stomachs. "We thought things would be fine when Khomola first came to the station, but they are even worse than before," said the presenters.

Presenters protested outside the station last Friday, accusing Khomola of favouritism. Some said that they were not happy with Khomola's management style. "It was only after the CEO (Ramovha) intervened that the presenters returned to work.  He promised that he would fork out money from his (own) pocket to pay the workers," they said.

With regard to payment, Ramovha said that the board had not raised enough funds in time and that was why the presenters had not yet been paid. "However, when money is available at the station, we will pay them," he said.

Ramovha added that the station was still committed to paying the presenters but could not promise when this would happen because currently there is no money.

It is also alleged that one of the presenters, Mulalo "Cat" Masikhwa, had resigned due to the fact that she was not paid. When contacted for comment, Masikhwa confirmed her resignation but did not want to say why she had resigned. She only said that things were not well at the station.