The unmasking of Devi
AWARD-WINNING investigative journalist and TV presenter Devi Sankaree Govender may be feared by crooks and scamsters, but South Africans are getting to see her lighter, comedic side.
Govender was caught in the act as the watermelon in last Saturday’s episode of The Masked Singer South Africa on SABC3.
After the first two rounds of the competition, during which six bigname stars lost the popularity vote, Govender made it to the final 10 aiming to keep her identity a secret.
The Masked Singer South Africa is a local spin-off of the fun-filled mystery singing contest that sees celebrities perform in disguise until they are eventually unmasked.
Govender performed Dancing Queen by Abba.
“The Masked Singer shows that we all have so many different sides to our personalities,” said Govender.
She said that with her current show on e.tv, The Devi Show, she started to have a lot more fun with what she was doing.
“People don't know that I am funny. With the show, while chasing crooks, it is basically me as I am. When viewers started to see more of my personality I then got the invite from Comedy Central to do the roast of Khanyi Mbau last year. I jumped at the opportunity and I loved that entire experience. I love doing stand-up comedy but I don't do it.
“I was then invited to judge Miss South Africa in August last year. While I’m still feared, I'm still a wife, mother and proudly South African so why not use this opportunity to let people see this other side,” said the mother of two.
She said that when the invite came for The Masked Singer South Africa she told them she could not sing.
“But I love doing different things and I thought it doesn't matter that I don't have a great singing voice and I should give it a bash anyway.”
She said the watermelon costume was heavy, hot and difficult to be in.
“But I sucked it up and got the job done. I chose the songs I like, not necessarily those I can sing. Dancing Queen by Abba was a song my sister and I used to dance to in our lounge at home,” she said.
Govender's career in the media industry began on Lotus FM in the mid-90s with the programme Viewpoint, which focused on current affairs, what was going on in the community and it raised social and political issues.
“I was a young Indian woman at the time who was quite opinionated. People were learning the meaning of what a democracy was and to have an outspoken Indian female on radio was unheard of in the Indian community. It started a lot of debates and discussions.”
She also presented Eastern Mosaic on TV and later joined the Sunday Times Extra as a columnist with her weekly column, Devi on Sunday, which ran for 16 years. She later became the features editor of the newspaper.
In 2001 Govender joined Carte Blanche, where she spent 18 years.
“It was where my TV career took off. That is where the whole perception of me being feared started. And the jokes of nobody wanting to open their doors and see me standing there.”
In 2020 Govender began The Devi Show on e.tv, broadcasting to millions of viewers.
“This show was meant to be a talk show, but Covid happened. I realised during lockdown that I could not do a talk show because you could not do guest interviews due to social distancing. That is when I came up with the idea of exposing scamsters while also showcasing amazing South Africans,” said Govender.