Moleo excited about her new role
Anchor part of Open News
After five successful years on SAfm, Naledi Moleo out of the blue packed her bags in April and hit the road.
The 31-year-old rule-breaker landed in Cape Town. As fate will have it, six months later she spearheads the anchoring team of innovative and experimental news channel Open News.
The new channel launched last week to viewers of free-toair satellite platform Openview.
“I needed a change and I just left. I quit my job and I left the city with no plan,” she recalls.
“It was very much a spiritual thing and I think God wanted me to be here. Something kicked me out of Joburg.
“This is by far the most exciting opportunity I have ever had, because it allows me so much freedom.”
Sporting a Halle Berry-esque crop hairdo that beautifully compliments her razorsharp cheekbones, Moleo and I connect on a mild and pleasant night at the launch of the channel in Cape Town.
We even check out the channel’s interactive studio that is moving away from traditional format.
Using the latest technology, the personality-driven channel, heavily influenced by social media, will see the anchors weigh in on top stories, share their opinions and engage with viewers – especially the youth.
In Moleo’s team there’s also Koketso Sachane, Ayanda Dlamini and Adrian Botha.
“There’s a lot of nerves and excitement. But more than anything is knowing that we are launching something that is very new and people have never seen anything like what we are doing,” she points out.
“It’s nerve-wracking because we know there is going to be positive and negative feedback. We are all very emotionally connected to it.
“I come from a standardised way of talking about current affairs. I get here and I’m told ‘everything you were taught, throw it out of the window’.”
Moleo is known for hosting The Talkshop on SAfm Monday to Thursday evenings.
With no experience, in 2013 as a novice radio personality, she won at the MTN Radio Awards for her weekend show Intune.
She holds the moment as one of her career highlights.
She also hosted SABC1 youth reality show Make Your Move in 2011. Her career in the public eye kicked off at the age of 16 as the first anchor on Kids News.