Emotional farewell for radio manager

AWARD-winning radio man James Shikwambana was given a surprise, emotional farewell by his colleagues at Munghana Lonene FM at the weekend.

Shikwambana was appointed by the SABC to head its Western Cape office. He had been acting in the position for a while.

The former Munghana station manager was surprised his colleagues had organised a party for him on Friday. “I was going there to hand over anything that I had belonging to Munghana Lonene and I never thought there was a party for me,” Shikwambana said yesterday.

“It was an emotional affair to part with a brand I hold so dear, to open a new chapter in my career with bigger responsibilities. The Munghana Lonene team has been so amazing to work with.”

Shikwambana’s career saw him spend 13 years as a radio presenter before moving to the marketing department, where he held the position of marketing manager for two years. He became station manager for four years before going to the Western Cape.

He has more than 22 awards as a radio sports presenter.

While Shikwambana did not say much about his new venture, one of his colleagues at the SABC said: “The Western Cape SABC is the [second] biggest after the head office and that means tremendous responsibilities, and it means that he has gone a long way from being a small boy from Mulati village in Tzaneen who aspired to do radio work to someone holding such a position at the SABC.”

Munghana’s former marketing manager Bongi Nkanyane is now acting station manager while Rose Makhubele will be acting marketing manager.