Lonwabo Nkohla has become a household name in sports broadcasting in South Africa, and she continues to forge new ground in her career. The SABC Sport presenter was handed another high-profile assignment this past weekend, where she anchored her first English Premier League match.
Nkohla, who was looking forward to covering the Soweto Derby on the past weekend, when suddenly, the tables turned, allowing the on-air talent to nail down another personal first in broadcasting. In true Lonwabo style, she completed the task with panache.
Nkohla shares how she prepared for the momentous occasion to ensure a successful broadcast: “With the recent English Premier League match that I anchored, I leaned on the things I learned over the years, just reach and lean on your experience and over-research.”
“I hesitate to say ‘Easy’, but it wasn’t as difficult as I anticipated, when I got the call to say I would be doing the game.”
Accomplished SABC Sport Anchor, Lonwabo Nkohla
“At first, I was asking myself can I anchor a game in the studio, start the build-up come back at halftime, and then wrap up the game at the end of the match, can I do that? I went in and I researched, and I could talk about the two teams without even looking at my paper, because I knew so much about them by the time I got on screen.”
The sports broadcaster’s journey to where she is now has had a few twists and turns, but ultimately, growing up in a supportive family and playing sport at school was what got the ball rolling towards her present-day career.
“It started with growing up in a family that loves sport, so, at home at the time, you would find the Olympics playing on SABC 2 the whole day, and then it would be football games playing on the weekend.”
“At home they would be watching sport all the time, that is where the love for sport actually started but then it went even further when I started playing sport at school, like netball, cricket, and a little athletics, so I was always involved in one or other thing in sport through primary school and high school.
“When I entered the industry, it was all about news on television, and then someone pointed me to radio where they were looking for people, at Wits Campus Radio station. I started with news there but, because I was a sports person at heart, it was easy to join the sports department on campus radio.”
“From then on it felt that sport just responded to me and I never felt the need to go back to current affairs or hard news because sport just made sense, from when I started reading those bulletins on campus radio.”
Over the years, Nkohla has become one of South Africa’s most-recognised faces in sports broadcasting, and one may think that her road to the top had a straight path. But, according to her, sports media ‘was not even on her radar, per se’!
“I was always that girl that who wanted to do engineering, civil engineering, architectural drafting, something along those lines. I did a year-long course in architectural drafting after doing a bit of town planning at the University of Pretoria, but did not like it. Then I did a year in architecture, so while I was waiting for an internship and looking for a job and opportunities, that’s when the auditions came in for Wits, they were looking for people to join the radio stations in all capacities.
“I went for news initially, and then did sport. Growing up as a bubbly child who was busy at school, doing other things like drama and speeches, they would always say ‘One day you need to be on TV’. That grew on me, and then I also started seeing that it would be nice to be on TV news one day.”
She says that gsport founder Kass Naidoo has been an integral part of her rise in the world of media, and forced her to take a leap of faith which gave her career a boost.
“The most crucial role that Kass played was getting me out of my comfort zone of just being a sports reader, I was never open to others things. I just saw myself reading sport, but I think it was mostly being intimidated by the prospects of trying new things.”
“She got me out of that hosting the IG Lives for gsport,” recalls Nkohla.
“Now I was on screen, and from there I would record voice-overs for gsport. Then I thought, ‘Why can’t I be that person that records voice-overs as well?’ There are a few people at SABC that played a huge role,” she says.
“Watching other women do what I want to do, or be where I want to be, has also inspired me a lot. The likes of Thato Moeng from SuperSport, I worked closely with her as well. I got to see how she does everything, and that truly inspired me to keep going. To see things she would do, and how she would research and use information, how she would post on all the platforms that she is on. Most of the women in sport that we come across are an inspiration to me.”
Over the years Nkohla has gained her fair share of experience, and when facing those inevitable ‘dark’ days, she says some of the best advice she received was to just keep her eye on the prize, especially when the going gets tough.
“I was going through a tough period, and Kass said: ‘Who is making you feel that they don’t want you around, and they are making your time difficult as you enter this space? Just be nice, smile, provide assistance – which can be hard!’ It helped me focus and keep my eye on the prize.”
“Also, some of the best advice I have heard is that people generally don’t put as much as they should, so that you’ll stand out. I have done that everywhere I go, every newsroom, the projects that I work on. I give it more than my all, and as a result, the universe responds with more opportunities, and solid relationships, because people know that when they have got this thing coming up, ‘I can call Lonwabo – because I know I have a person I can rely on. I am looking for a person who will do it right and take pride in that work.’”
“Also, just leaning in on the research – I have heard broadcasters say that I read and research a lot, and I take those things, and I try to apply them in my life as well.”
Nkohla has been in the industry for over a decade and says that when she first started her professional career in media, she was often one of maybe two women attending press conferences. She feels while there has been a change, she feels that the number of women in the industry is still a low figure.
“In a way, it feels like there is a lot of progress, you see a lot of women on social media. Even now I can think of five names of women who are in sports broadcasting that have come thought over the years. However, there are times I find myself attending the press conferences and I am the only lady or there might be one more in a room of twenty-plus men.
“It feels like there is growth but maybe the growth is not enough and I think newsrooms/media houses can still do better to be more welcoming to women, be more supportive, and open doors. Many spaces are still a boy’s club, you get into production and it’s a lot of men, you get into a newsroom and it’s a whole of men. Sometimes few of us are trying to find their way in this space, but many are not enough.”
She believes kindness is a key factor in ensuring women get opportunities in the industry.
“What needs to happen is the space, needs to be friendlier. You find that men in this space want to gate-keep these jobs which is understandable, because we all want to put food on our tables. However, just opening up and being kinder, not necessarily to women but just to the next person can make a huge difference.
“You get into a working environment and everyone’s guards are up, and when it’s a woman, their guard is already up before you even speak, or before you show you know what you are doing. Just being kinder in general, is also our responsibility as women when other women, younger women come into this space.”
“I think we all somehow understand that the pie is truly big enough for everyone. When we say it it sounds cliche’ in the working space you realise that there are so many working opportunities that we can all share and we are different personalities, maybe I can anchor an English Premier League match but there is something else that I can’t do that someone else can do.”
“So what would I want to be the person who wants to do everything and close opportunities for other women, when I know what I have gone through to get to where I am? The responsibility lies with us as women to get that opportunity. I sometimes feel like the younger generation, when they get that opportunity, don’t fully commit,” she says.
Nkohla had this advice for young women who want to work in the world of media, to ensure they are doing the industry for the right reasons:
“Understand why you want to do this, and be sure that you want to do this. You’re not just doing it because it looks cool, and you want to go to the stadium to meet cool people.”
“Do you want to do that because it’s a passion and because it’s something that excites you? If not it’s going to be boring and you won’t be excited about it but it’s something that you enjoy even in the most boring story you need to cover,” says Nkohla, “You will find excitement and you will learn a thing or two because it’s what you are passionate about. Know why you are there and what you want to achieve but also give it your all, go for it unapologetically.”
Main Photo Caption: Lonwabo Nkohla has become a household name in sports broadcasting in South Africa, and she continues to forge new ground in her career. The SABC Sport presenter was handed another high-profile assignment this past weekend, where she anchored her first English Premier League match. All Photos: Supplied
Photo 2 Caption: With the benefit of her years of hard-earned experience, Nkohla shares valuable lessons learned and earned on her chosen path.
Photo 3 Caption: Nkohla is adamant that aspirant broadcasters must work to ensure that they are in the industry for the right reasons.
Photo 4 Caption: “It feels like there is growth, but maybe the growth is not enough, and I think newsrooms/media houses can still do better to be more welcoming to women.”
Photo 5 Caption: When facing those inevitable ‘dark’ days, Nkohla says the best advice she received was to just keep her eye on the prize, especially when the going gets tough.
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