Duran Collett: 5FM
5FM Sports presenter wants to give back by passing the torch.
Written by: Machaba Matsapola
W
hen he first started,
Duran Collett was
mentored by someone
who has been in the industry for a
while hence he’d like to extend the
same courtesy to young aspiring
sports presenters. The 34-year-old
from Benoni knows very well how
difficult it is to get in the broad-
casting industry, so he plans to give
back. Unlike most voices on main-
stream radio stations, Collett didn’t
have the pleasure to sharpen his
skills at campus or community radio
level. “I studied a TV/Radio dra-
ma course for a year through LMB
which is now called Damelin; I then
went to Primedia and was a traffic
compiler for Talk radio 702 and 947
Highveld,” he shares. “A weekend
breakfast gig at Talk Radio 702
opened after the sports presenter
left to
join 5FM.”
Collett then grabbed the
opportunity and started present-
ing sports on weekends until 5FM
approached him to be part of their
team. He started on the weekend
28
breakfast slot with Elana Afrika and
Mark Gillman, then worked with
Thomas Msengana on the same slot.
After he worked with Msengana,
Collett joined the Fresh Drive in
2011, then later moving to the
weekday breakfast slot with DJ
Fresh and isnow on the afternoon
drive show with Thando Thabethe.
Speaking about his love for sports
broadcasting, he says: “Apart from
being passionate about watching
and writing sports, playing sports
helped a lot as well; I played soccer,
hockey, cricket and did swimming in
high school.”
Speaking about his future plans, he
shares: “I’ve been with 5FM since
2009 and very happy where I am; I
believe I still got a lot to give at 5FM
but eventually I’d like to go into
behind the scenes and be a sports
content curator.” When it comes to
sports broadcasters and people he
admires, Collett mentions Robert
Marawa, AB de Villiers and Roger
Federer. “I have the utmost respect
for Robert Marawa and aspire to
work with him, I like his humility;
it’s the same with AB de Villiers and
Roger Federer, I like humble sports
people, they appeal to me,” he con-
cludes.
Catch Duran Collet every weekday
aftrernoon on TheThaBooty Drive
98.0 FM is 5FM’s frequency
in Johannesburg.
Stay tuned.
F R EQ U E N CY M AGA Z I N E S P O RTS I S S U E PA RT 1