Metro FM faced criticism from listeners for giving a platform to fake Dr Matthew Lani, who claimed to be a doctor on TikTok. The station said it was looking into how and who allowed the interview to happen. However, the station denied that the presenter of the show, Faith Mangope, received a written warning for the incident. Faith Mangope, a radio personality and businesswoman, joined the station seven months ago and hosted the Metro FM Talk with Faith Mangope show.
She interviewed Lani for an hour on Monday night, between 7 and 8pm. Lani, a bogus doctor and a popular TikTok influencer, tried to persuade Mangope that he was a doctor, even though he had admitted to security guards at the Johannesburg hospital that he was not a doctor when he was caught trying to make content for his social media followers.
A source at the station said that the management gave the presenter a precautionary warning letter. The source also said that the bosses had different opinions about Mangope’s action. Some wanted her to be punished for damaging the station’s reputation, while others applauded her for trying to attract more listeners for her show during that hour. Lani’s appearance was advertised before the show on the station’s online platforms. The source said: “The strategy of bringing Lani in studio was a gamble that didn’t work. Faith and her team were trying a strategy to draw in listeners, while on the other hand they wanted to be controversial. This left her with egg on the face because Lani spoke for an hour but said nothing.
The most insulting part for the station was when Faith took photos with Lani as if she was star-struck,” the source said. The station deleted the interview between Mangope and Lani from the station’s website. The pictures Mangope took with Lani were also removed from their social media pages. According to the source, no podcast will be available in the future. SABC spokesperson Sibusiso Gumbi refuted allegations that the station gave Faith a precautionary warning.