A kasi authi made for radio
Broadcaster was in a league of his own
I was taking an afternoon nap on Monday when news broke of the untimely passing of radio personality Bob Mabena. I was still dazed in slumberland and dismissed the “Breaking News” as another fake story doing the rounds on social media.
I was initially dismissive of the story because I had listened to Mabena on Friday morning having a discussion with a certain gentleman reminiscing about another radio legend, Edgar Dikgole, popularly known as “Brother ED”, who had departed these shores and Mabena sounded well, bubbly and healthy that Friday morning.
It was only after his employer, Power FM, released a brief statement confirming his death that my heart sank.
It is still unbelievable. Mabena was one of the stellar graduates of what came to be known as the “University of Radio” – the now-defunct Radio Bop. The station, which was founded in then Bophuthatswana homeland, was a training ground for many radio greats such as Tim Modise, Modisane Modise, Mogale Mafatshe, Brother ED (Dikgole), Zandile Nzalo, Glen Lewis, Nothemba Madumo and many others.
Mabena was a rare breed of a broadcaster whose versatility gravitated seamlessly between spinning the discs and hosting a current affairs talkshow.
Only a few like Tim Modise managed that feat of transition from a deejay to talk show anchor with ease.
But Mabena was in a league of his own, as he continued for a long time to do both – anchoring a weekday talk show and hosting a Saturday jam session which played “Old School” music, hence the moniker “The Jammer”.
He was a rare breed of an interviewer who wasn’t a copycat or emulated others, but carved his own identity and unique style of presenting a show without grilling, badgering or pinning down his interviewees. As friend and veteran journalist FikileNtsikelelo Moya is wont to say about print journalism: “Journalists shouldn’t write stories for themselves, but should write for the reader.”
Mabena was that kind of a broadcaster who was a conduit between the listener and his subject and facilitated a smooth conversation for the sharing of information, which was for the benefit of the listener.
I vividly remember the last time he was on radio last Friday morning, singing the praises of the late Brother ED and complimenting his own wife’s culinary skills.
He made me fall in love with #PowerBreakfast because of his sense of humour, self-effacing and selfdeprecating persona behind the microphone.
I always looked forward to being interviewed by him on radio without panicking due to his welcoming and easy way of engagement.
I remember him interviewing me a few years ago while he was hosting a breakfast show on Kaya FM and he ended up asking me about sphatlho sa ko Atteridgeville (a type of bunny chow in Pretoria townships). That discussion was permeated by laughter without losing the sharing of information.
Such was the evergreen Mabena.
Recently, I had had to juggle between listening to Mabena while accommodating my companion who works for a breakfast show of a rival channel. Tuning into #PowerBreakfast yesterday morning sans the posh accent of The Jammer was a different experience. Listening to the show will never be the same again.
Rest In Power, The Jammer.
He made me fall in love with #PowerBreakfast because of his sense of humour