Tributes pour in for veteran broadcaster ‘Jiks’
Journalists and communicators have paid tribute to veteran broadcaster Mzobanzi Jikazana following his death, at 63, after a short illness.
News of Jikazana ’ s death came as a shock to many of his former colleagues, who described him as someone who epitomised living life to the full, and who was energetic and passionate about journalism.
Trained as a teacher, Jikazana cut his teeth in broadcasting with CKI FM in the mid 1980s, where he was executive producer and presenter of the news actuality programmes.
A few months after SA ushered in a new democracy in 1994, he joined the SABC in Sea Point, Cape Town, as news editor, and was later promoted to executive producer for both radio and television.
SABC Western Cape regional editor Kenneth Makatees said: “With the political changes [taking place in the country] the SABC had to change as well. It was people like Jiks, as he was affectionately known, who contributed to the SABC being a public broadcaster for all South Africans.
“He was instrumental in bridging the divides of the past and brought people together in one newsroom that crossed the racial barriers of the past.
“Jikazana was a communicator for most of his adult life, whether it was in the SABC newsroom or in the different roles that he played in government communications.
“An amiable person who made a lasting impression on us as his former colleagues.”
Makatees also described Jikazana as a broadcaster who was gifted with a “deep voice” and a “deep, infectious laugh”, and was able to put people at ease.
Jikazana also worked alongside former broadcaster and now head of media and stakeholder relations in parliament, Manelisi Wolela,
Wolela said Jikazana had pursued truth with passion, and helped empower listeners and the public to make informed decisions.
“He was not afraid to speak truth to power. Many of us in the media and in the communications practice owe what we have become to Jiks’s guidance and coaching.”
One of the great moments Wolela remembered was when he and Jikazana interviewed former President Nelson Mandela during his first visit to the Eastern Cape after his release from prison in 1990.
Jikazana’s passion for connecting the public to affairs affecting their lives also led him to working for the government, first at Buffalo City Municipality from 2005-2009, and later for the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).
He is survived by his wife, two daughters and his mother.
Jikazana will be buried in Peelton in the Eastern Cape on Sunday.