How 'shock jock' Phat Joe's humour horrified Durban

18 October 2016 - 14:46 By Andre Jurgens

Phat Joe was told by his new radio station bosses to “shake up things. To be edgy‚ controversial‚ to get people talking.” And he succeeded spectacularly. Horrified listeners of East Coast Radio in Durban have inundated the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) with letters saying how offensive they found his afternoon drive show."Complaints about the tattooing of a baby‚ serial rape‚ a stolen car‚ 'syphilis' name-calling and the condoning of affairs were lodged against East Coast Radio‚" said the BCCSA on Tuesday.Six of these complaints were listed by the commission.Phat Joe’s fiancée gushes over her 'dream' engagement: He's more than I ever prayed forThey made headlines last week with perhaps the cutest proposal we've seen all year! A proposal that Phat Joe’s fiancée Palesa Morgan calls a "dream come true". Ronald‚ the first‚ wrote to the commission saying that he was listening to the radio on August 22 when he heard the presenter advocating that it was "a good idea to tattoo a child of less than 12 months in age live on air". He said the suggestion was of "such abhorrence that it could never be considered a legal means of engendering interest in the programme".A second complainant‚ referred to by the commission as Mackinnon‚ was driving his nine-year-old daughter home from school when the DJ announced that if he were jailed‚ he would "actively take part in raping other prisoners".He was forced to change the channel. Upon tuning in again‚ he was immediately offended by a discussion about a baby being tattooed.Coetzer complained about Phat Joe condoning an Olympic athlete who had an affair while in Rio‚ giving a baby a tattoo and a "completely inappropriate" reference to a person as "syphilis".WATCH: Phat Joe proposes to his girlfriend in the sweetest way! Radio personality and one of Mzansi's most eligible bachelors Phat Joe has popped the question to his girlfriend. Coyne added to the list of complaints that Phat Joe had "bragged that he had stolen a car. Children could be listening. He is saying it's OK to be a criminal".Tonkin found the vulgarity disgraceful when Phat Joe explained how people who disliked his show made him "hard".Duma was likewise offended by the prison banter and said that Joe was "deliberately stirring up racial tension".The BCCSA explained in its ruling‚ handed down on Tuesday‚ that Phat Joe had been given a mandate by the station to "shake up things. To be edgy‚ controversial‚ to get people talking‚ whether by phoning in to the station or on various social media platforms".LISTEN: Phat Joe labels protesting UKZN students 'Worst People in the World'While South Africans across the country have rallied behind protesting students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Phat Joe has taken to his Durban-based radio show to lambaste the university's students for being the 'worst people in the world'. The radio station argued that he was hired to be something that Durban had not experienced before‚ a so-called "shock jock" – similar to Howard Stern in the US.He was paid to be someone who burned up the airwaves by stirring controversy and social media hype and would "get people talking" about the station in such a way that new listeners (particularly in a younger and black demographic) would give the station a try to see what the "all the fuss was about".The Tribunal found that his utterances were of a "ridiculous‚ bizarre and nonsensical nature thereby strongly suggesting that they fall under the ambit of humour"."In the result‚ we find no contravention of the Code of Conduct. All complaints are not upheld‚" ruled the BCCSA. - TMG Digital/The Times..

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