Aw e s o m e A f r i c a
Ntokozo Botjie from TransAfrica Radio shares a little of himself, his work and
his vision of the future.
I
This is where the power went off, leaving us in
the dark with a few chuckles to fill the void of
inconvenience. But despite the loss of power,
and the pressure of hosting his own radio show
an hour after the interview wrapped up, he
continued to personify a cool, calm and collected
Station Manager.
At 24-years of age, Ntokozo admits an intrigue
with the medium that stretches back in memoriam.
He relates how he was Initially rolled up with an
interest in Sound Engineering where he created
jingles and cleaned up audio. Music was his
passion and he sought a way of helping aspiring
artists to record and master broadcast quality
material.
Unhindered by the sudden loss of illumination,
we continued our conversation. At this point I
had to ask what he’d be doing if not managing
a station and hosting a radio show, “I’m more of
an artist than anything else. I feed off art.” He
goes on to say, “That’s where I’d be. I’d be doing
something weird”. At the heart of it, Ntokozo
Botjie is creatively charged and embracing a path
allowing for self-expression as he tries to have a
positive impact in the lives of others.
t’s unavoidable. It’s everywhere. Radio
saturates the body, mind and sometimes
even the soul with a variety of reverberations.
Maybe it’s music. Maybe it’s a humorous
satire or a deep and meaningful reflection
on current affairs. Regardless of the content,
everyone experiences this form of expression and
most often than not, it changes their lives.
When it came to radio, he sort of ‘fell’ into the role
of Station Manager. He had previously hosted a
radio show on the now defunct Rock FM but was
eventually scooped up by TransAfrica Radio after
they listened to his folio of work. Needless to say,
they were impressed.
“To me, radio is like an album. You have track one
to track twelve. And so it has to be synchronized.
It has to be smooth.” – in other words, for
Ntokozo, radio is telling a story that people can
connect with. Maintaining a voice. An identity
that reveals and demonstrates who the station is
and what it’s all about.
His spot on TransAfrica Radio ‘Awesome Africa’
airs every Sunday from 2-4pm and focuses on
positive development in South Africa and the
continent as a whole. As the name suggests, the
show tries to reignite pride in this continent we
call home.
“I live in the now” is a defining factor for Botjie
– a snippet of insight into what it means to be a
Station Manager. For Ntokozo life and work are
one. He never shuts down and continues working
come rain or shine… or the loss of light.
By Frederik Ferreira
51
IMBO/ ISSUE 32/ '14