There's a proverb that goes, "You give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. You teach a man how to fish, you feed him for life." It's the ethos behind charities and state structures that offer development and training to make people self-sufficient, rather than giving endless handouts to permanent dependants.
Unfortunately for United Democratic Movement [UDM] head Bantu Holomisa, his debut as a news anchor on eNCA was one that will be remembered not for these wise words of philanthropy, but purely for the awkward teleprompter malfunction that left the proverb hopelessly mangled and Holomisa blushing.
eNCA's show "As It Happens" has been giving politicians the chance the anchor the news show this week.
Truth be told the TelePrompt Screen messed me up and caught me unaware. I will catch that fish in future. Thanks for watching.Bantu Holomisa
This ambitious attempt to put politicians in the fore of news has been met with mixed results.
Monday: The EFF's Mbuyiseni Ndlozi set the tone early on and looked like a natural news anchor.
Tuesday: The ANC's Pule Mabe decided to read out the answers on his script.
Wednesday: The DA's Natasha Mazzone held her ground, but chose not to dig deep on the story of the week: the DA's ongoing battle with Patricia de Lille.
However, none was funnier than Holomisa — even Julius Malema couldn't help but laugh at the glitch.
News anchoring is not an easy job, especially if you are doing it for the first time on a big platform.
eNCA tweeted that their autocue had malfunctioned and combined all the words, but conspiracy theorists might conclude the UDM leader was sabotaged. Even if he was, it didn't do Holomisa's image any harm — most people were sympathetic and grateful for the laugh, which is more than they get from most politicians.
Tonight will see the Inkatha Freedom Party's Liezl Linda van der Merwe; the last politician to host the show.