CITY Press editor Ferial Haffajee has taken leave in the midst of a racially charged explosion in her newsroom.

The CEO of Media24's newspaper division, Fergus Sampson, is said to have called a meeting with six journalists labelled racist ring leaders by Haffajee.

A manager at the paper said the meeting will be tomorrow afternoon and that Haffajee will not be present.

In an e-mail sent to staff on Friday, Haffajee made what some construe as an attempt at an apology.

The e-mail read: "Dear colleagues, your flint stone editor is out on leave. This will enable you to douse the fires I started. For where the flames licked painfully, I apologise but do feel we are about to embark on a journey towards far greater clarity . And also know that there is nothing unusual - this is happening everywhere and I am glad it's out in the open."

The former editor of The Mail and Guardian took to Twitter to air her views on a meeting that went wrong. What was meant to be a workshop about City Press's future turned into a racial issue that submerged the transformation issue that had been raised.

Her timeline on Twitter went into a frenzy when she tweeted: "I don't tolerate white racists, so what makes black racists any different? Today, I drew a line in the sand. Two sides: one awful coin."

And then: "So easily does the oppressed become the oppressor. Not under my watch. Sorry".

Making an internal matter a public issue, she took to the social network to set the record straight.

"Listen up," she tweeted. "Nobody's been suspended. Any journo can come over, talk to any of us - we have our debates in public, we don't kill each other."

The racial nature of the row is particularly clear in an e-mail sent by Haffajee to her staff, which we publish for the first time : "What was that you were saying ... dear racists among you, that thing you were saying about needing a black African editor and desk to secure political connections, here's news. We have been offered first dibs for pieces by two ministers and Graca Machel today. It happens most every week.

"Just goes to show, your perceptions are not facts and as I've come to understand, you often have very little idea of what you are talking about. You did hear me saying I will not work with racists yesterday, didn't you?"

Haffajee did not respond to queries.