Cover Story – Penny Lebyane On Finding Her Niche
Radio and TV host, Penny Lebyane, has enjoyed a varied career in entertainment that spans a quarter of a century. In this candid interview, she speaks about her greatest battles in the industry and how she’s finally found her niche
Are rebels born or made? Well, after a five-hour sit-down in Hyde Park with Penny Lebyane, once known as ‘The Phly One’, I’m convinced that, based on her anecdotes (and boy, does she have a lot!), Penny’s questioning of the ‘natural’ order of things in the workplace, relationships and family came from a genuine place. And questioning, she says, used to paint her as a troublemaker. She prefers to call herself an “equality activist”, saying as a mother with a boy child, she’ll always root for both sexes to be empowered equally. In 25 years, Penny has witnessed the evolution of the entertainment industry from analogue to digital, and how everything – from ageism to your social media following – determines whether you’re able to book a job or not. “I may not have a million followers on social media, but I can do the job,” Penny says, unbothered. “Ageism in entertainment affects mostly women, not men. But, of course, it’s allowed because we are operating in a patriarchal society where gender inequality is still the order of the day.”
Penny was part of the first generation of community radio personalities who woke the entertainment industry, in the late ’90s, from its deep slumber. In 1997, she cut her teeth at Voice of Soweto, one of the coolest community radio stations of that time. Then in 2000, she made her voice heard on national radio with a move to Metro FM. Penny says her tenure at Voice of Soweto had instilled in her a sense of “I’m allowed to do anything!” “I grew through asking, ‘sponging off’ others and sharing ideas for radio shows,” she explains. Little did she know that this eagerness, coupled with her innocently punching holes where she felt her managers were losing the plot, was making her unpopular. As a result, her radio career stagnated. But at first she wasn’t too fazed, as there were plenty of other paths she was pursuing outside of radio.
FINALLY IN HER LANE
Some call Penny the original ‘It’ girl, though she insists she was oblivious to the title. “I don’t recall purposefully positioning myself as an ‘It’ girl,” she clarifies. “All I wanted was to treat entertainment with the seriousness that it deserved, and because I’m deliberate about things, I always want to know what sort of impact they will have.”
During our interview, a woman in what looks like uniform bearing the e.tv logo, interrupts us. “I’ve been looking for you,” she says to Penny. “I know someone who needs help with resolving a housing dispute between her and her siblings.” She is referring to Penny’s presenting gig on Kukithi La, on the DStv channel Moja Love, which spotlights unresolved conflicts in family homes. Penny presents the Massiv Metro’s breakfast