The Sunday News
Peter MatikaSenior Life Reporter
YOU have probably met Ratidzai Ndlovu but just don’t know it yet.
If you listen to ZBC’s National FM or pay attention to certain programmes on the channel and on TV, then you know, or have seen Ratidzai Ndlovu.
Many have probably encountered her through a mellow voice that has turned her, at only 29, to be one of Zimbabwe’s formidable radio presenters.
Not only does she possesses a warm radio voice but is multi-lingual too, as she speaks five languages, which are English, Ndebele, Shona, Venda and Suthu. She spoke to Sunday Life about her experiences as a producer/presenter, where she said she mostly worked the “graveyard” (midnight) shift.
“I have lots of shows, with the most prominent being the Late Night Shift, which is split into segments. It starts at around 10pm, where the first hour/segment of the show is dubbed Family Choice, the second focusing on love songs and the third segment being Woza Friday. I get to interact with listeners on most of my shows where we talk in different languages,” she said.
Hailing from Gwanda, where she went to Ngoma Primary School and Gwanda and Zezane High Schools respectively for her high school and A-level, Raty, as she is warmly known, said she never once thought she would be a voice behind radio.
“After I completed my A-levels I enrolled at the Harare Polytechnic College, where I studied for a Diploma in Mass Communication and Media Studies. I majored in print but I always felt I could be more than just a print journalist. I did work as a print journalist for a newspaper in Gwanda before I applied for a position here at ZBC,” she said.
She said she was more of a reserved person but when it came to radio she was very different.
“Radio nurtured my confidence; I never once knew that I would be to make a living through the use of my voice,” she says.
It was a chance opportunity to work at ZBC that directed her career path.
“I love prepping listeners for the day,” she said.
Asked what it was like to be the voice over of some programmes she said it was all about acting with one’s voice.
“You need to love what you do. You need to be articulate. You don’t have to have a British or American twang, every script needs different voices,” she said.
When away from the radio she loves spending time at home with family and friends watching TV.
“I love reading and watching TV and of course going out with family and friends,” she said.
Raty is married and has a four-year-old son.
@peterkmatika
