A Bachelor of Public Administration student in the Nelson Mandela University, known as MissTee Shazzie on air by her audience crosses paths with Broadcast journalism (radio). “Something to fall back on” is how this could be explained. Ambition is obviously not defined by what one enrolls into a university to study and graduate on but going for what they believe they can do and excel on.
Are you undecided about the path you want to take as your career?
Yes. You know that the path of self-discovery is not easy and choosing a career is so difficult because one’s interests and their desire to do something changes daily. Today you might be interested in being a doctor then tomorrow you want to be a singer. I’m not sure yet whether to go into the corporate world and focus on my degree only or stick to my craft and join the entertainment industry or even do both. I believe that I can do both but you know how our parents are, when you tell them that “dad I want to be a DJ or radio personality” they always force us to actually go and study first and obtain a degree and that’s when they allow you to work on your talent. But I’m definitely sure about embarking in this entertainment industry journey.
Are you ever planning on making radio a full time thing that you do?
This question is something that I have been contemplating about, and to my thinking, yes because I am in love with it. Sharing my voice with the masses means a lot to me because I personally believe that being a radio personality means you are actually being the voice of the people. But I want to do more and not only focus on radio. Wherever life takes me I will go. I would love to be on your screens presenting shows and do some work behind the scenes. I’m a very creative person I enjoy creating content and making sure that my show is unique and attracts loads of listeners and that is why at Madibaz radio I work as both a presenter and a producer. Honestly there’s more to radio but for now radio is my only focus and my comfort zone and I am learning and observing more.
How did you get to be a part of the Madibaz radio crew?
It’s Funny how I joined Madibaz Radio crew. Look, I knew that I was part of the family immediately when I moved from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth to further my studies here in Nelson Mandela University. I had a feeling that they have been in search for my voice. Joining the Station was simple, I did not know anyone working from the Station. I sent my demos and videos of me presenting to the well-known Djs from the Station who has been doing Radio way before starting to study here, ’DJ Max” via Instagram. He immediately fell in love with my innate radio voice and he immediately referred me to Madibaz Radio Programmer and manager and I was instructed to follow certain procedures like on-air voice testing and through God I was then given a night show, “Night Injection” which airs every Sunday from 21:00 till midnight.
Why radio in the first place?
Radio was never in the picture. I had this bubbly personality growing up and my family would get tired of me and my endless questions and when I see that everyone was getting tired of me I would go to my bedroom and stand in front of the mirror and start talking alone and this became my daily routine. No one paid attention that the child within me had dreams, talent and the voice. In High School I enjoyed reading in front of the class, I enjoyed doing speeches and I would nail them and I would get full marks all the time. I just enjoyed talking and engaging with others, I would sometimes during lunch call my friends and interview them and name my show “#Who’sNext” and this grew I even started watching youth shows like hecticNine-9. After watching the show I would start my own show “#Who’sNext” and impersonate what those young presenters were doing so on my mind I only had on-screen dream and not radio. Fast forward, in 2017 I started to listen to radio and I fell in love with many radio voices on our commercial radio and that’s how the love for radio developed. In 2018 that is when I took the leap of faith and tried out Radio. I always tell myself that Radio chose me, I saw radio as a good platform for me to build my self-confidence and find myself, unlike television, on radio people only hear your voice but cannot see you.
Tell me about your first time interacting with the audience
My first time being on-air I had all these mixed emotions so its very hard for me to tell how I was feeling but most importantly I was excited and scared at the same time, it was my first time doing radio and the idea that most people who knew me where listening made me more scared but immediately when the mic was on, and now I had to speak and be that bubbly Thandi the experience was incredibly and I think what made it more exciting is that I resonated a lot with my show so everything was smooth and easier because first week I did not do the show alone but someone was there to guide me and she made things easy because she was kind and very helpful.
Is that feeling still there to date?
Besides being scared right? The excitement is always there. Being on-air everyday always makes it seem like it is my first time. It’s the love I have for my work.
Victor Phemba 