The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mbewe, Sunday Life Correspondent
Zvishavane’s first radio station – YaFm celebrates its first year in the broadcasting industry this month.
As part of their celebrations, they have declared September as their month and lined up a wide range of activities from business seminars, to concerts.
And they have every reason to go to town with their celebrations as they are one of the few stations which managed to start broadcasting well before the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe deadline.
However, the journey has not been rosy for YaFm as they like any other business, faced challenges along the way. One of them was baboons which gave them a good run for their money after they chewed transmission cables. While the station went off air for about an hour on the day the incident occurred, the station is now going strong and taking each day as it comes.
Last week, our correspondent, Rumbidzai Mbewe joined the celebrations in Zvishavane where she had an opportunity to watch the crew at work. Impressively, women, most from Bulawayo, are running the show there.
Below are interviews with some of the station’s top personalities:
Fungai Mawada
Popularly known as Fufu, Fungai Mawada hosts Fufu’s Diary and Chollar Bag during weekdays.
Rumbidzai Mbewe (RM): Who is Fufu?
Fufu: Fungai Mawada is a presenter at YaFM who doubles up as a model. I’m from Bulawayo, but my mother comes from Zvishavane, something which is made it easy for me to relate with people here.
RM: Tell us about your broadcasting career.
Fufu: It all started when I was searching for a degree programme. I was bit confused because I initially wanted to study Psychology. When I got to college, I discovered I was more interested in Media Studies as I enjoyed the limelight because of modelling. I ended up applying for Media Studies and was accepted. Modelling helped me gain confidence, something that has helped in terms of presenting here.
RM: What programmes do you present on radio?
Fufu: Fufu’s Diary is a show that tackles issues that affect women and girls, encouraging and motivating them. Most girls are discriminated because of their gender so through this programme. I challenge them to see the world in a different light. The other one, Chollar Bag comes from the Chollar Bag used by artisanal miners – it carries everything that they need when they are underground. So this show is centred on wellness be it the mind, body and soul.
RM: How are people responding to your programmes?
Fufu: People seem to love them because their interesting and different.
RM: How has your journey been with YaFM so far?
Fufu: It’s been exciting, challenging and empowering. The major challenge has been breaking into a market which has never been exposed to its radio – a place where people rarely ever hear about themselves. Coming from a city like Bulawayo, I thought I knew it all, but when I came here, I realised I knew nothing. I’ve learnt a lot from this town.
RM: Are you still into modelling?
Fufu: The station is taking up most of my time, but when I’m free I do model. However, I no longer take part in beauty pageants as my focus is now on photographic modelling which I enjoy.
RM: Are you in a relationship?
Fufu: (laughs) I’m single. I’m focusing on my career for now, but if Christiano Ronaldo reads this article, he should come knocking on my door. Everyone knows I have a crush on him.
Ruvarangu Tichareva
Another lady from Bulawayo rocking Zvishavane’s airwaves is Ruvarangu Tichareva (RT).
RM: Tell me about yourself?
RT: I’m a 20 something lady who grew up in Bulawayo. I went to Thekwane high School where I constantly got teased because I wanted to study media. People kept discouraging me including my family but look where I am today, I made history by being one of the first presenters at YaFM.
RM: How did you land at YaFM?
RT: I heard the station was conducting auditions and decided to try my luck. They invited me to the station to host a show with Gogo Beau as an anchor. I guess I impressed as I now host my own programme – Late night show during the week. On Sunday it’s called the Calm down.
RM: Tell me more about the Late Night/Calm Down show.
RT: This is a unique platform as people send us messages they would love to tell people but will be shy to do so, so we do it for them. They give us numbers and we call the recipients live on radio and pass the message. Some of them yell at us when we call them, but that is what makes the show even more interesting. People of Zvishavane love it, especially adults.
RM: How do you handle people who shout at you on radio?
RT: I laugh it off all the time and tell them to relax because it’s all about having fun, that’s radio’s core business. I always separate my personal life from work so no matter what kind of mood I’m in, I’m constant when I’m on air, you can never tell that I’ll be low sometimes.
RM: How has it been working with YaFm?
RT: It’s been eye opening. There’re so many things I’ve learnt such as handling people and dealing with criticism. It’s never easy accepting the truth, but you have to deal with it. I’ve also come to appreciate that as a presenter, not everyone loves you.
RM: Do you use scripts for your show?
RT: At first, I used to have scripts, but now I just flow as people can tell when it’s scripted and they don’t like it. I love radio more than television because I can always come to work in my pyjamas or morning shoes and actually tell people that’s what I’m wearing, no pressure.
RM: How are your relations with colleagues at work?
RT: We fight sometimes but the fact that we’ve been together for a year tells you that we are blending well. There’s no perfect relationship out there.
RM: What can listeners expect from you in years to come?
RT: I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be here and hopefully as YaFm grows. I noticed that there’re so many talented people in Zimbabwe, but they lack opportunities. My vision is to open an academy of arts.
RM: Are you in a relationship?
RT: I’m single. However, many people think I’m married because when I talk about marriage on air, they feel like I’ll be talking from experience, not knowing that I just closely follow people’s marriages, including my parents.
RM: Word of advice to females who are inspired by you.
RT: I noticed that there’re so many female artists who are talented but stop singing when they get married. Never give up your dreams for a man ladies.
Gogo Beau
You will be amazed why they call her Gogo Beau (real name Beauty Chikonye because when you see her, she is not old. She is the lady behind the popular Fun Cargo show. She is the most celebrated DJ in Zvishavane currently.
RM: Who is Gogo Beau?
Gogo Beau: I had my first child when I was 16 years old, something I regretted doing. I regret because if I had completed school, maybe I would have been owning a radio station because I’m very good at talking. But, I have two kids and I’m not married. My husband was shot in Botswana in 2006 and I decided not to get married again. I am in a relationship though, who knows, maybe I’ll get married again.
RM: How did you get the name Gogo Beau?
Gogo Beau: Since my name is Beauty, Beau is short for Beauty. People at the station decided to call me gogo because I’m the oldest at the station and I give them advise, hence Gogo Beau.
RM: What programme do you host on YaFm?
Gogo Beau: Fun Cargo. But before that, I used to do Chollar Bag with Shamiso and it was quite popular. After some time, the station’s management decided to introduce a new show and they suggested that I do it as they wanted a person from Zvishavane. This was the birth of Fun Cargo. The show has been on air for a month and it’s already a hit. Fun Cargo is the car used to transport people in this town and that’s where all the hot gossip emanates from as well. The programme also gives people the hook of Zvishavane’s movers and shakers.
RM: How have the people of Zvishavane responded to YaFm?
Gogo Beau: People in Great Dyke have been lagging behind for a long time. There are people in the rural areas who did not have anything to listen to or to entertain themselves with. YaFm has given hope to these people and our focus is on giving them news so they are abreast with current affairs. Soccer lovers are now able to get results as the come on the station.
RM: How has your experience at the station been?
Gogo Beau: The journey has been very rewarding as I’m exposed to experienced people in the industry and I’m learning new things with each passing day. I cannot walk past a bin without anyone talking to me as I’m now kind of like a celebrity.
RM: What do you do during your spare time?
Gogo Beau: I love my alcohol. When I’m free, I like imbibing from my green bottle. Besides drinking, I love sleeping so if I’m not drinking, I’m sleeping. When I sleep, no matter how hard you knock the door, I won’t open up because I don’t like being disturbed during that period. Since I’m from the ghetto, I enjoy spending time with people from the neighbourhood.
@rumbie_mbewe
