Climbing the ladder to Talk Radio 702

Hope Motau and Barry Roux (Oscar Pistorius Lawyer)

Ngwanamakwa Hope Koketso Motau was born on 29^th of September 1990 at Ga-Mathabatha village, 80km outside Polokwane in Limpopo province. He is the Second born out of three children. The first born is his brother Shima and the last born is his younger sister Kgahlego.

He grew up like any other playful boy child in the village and he was staying with his brother and his cousin Ponko, while their parents were based in Gauteng due to work purposes.

He started school and completed his Grade 7 at Dikgeu Primary School. He moved to Diepsloot in Gauteng province to enrol with Rabasotho Combined School where he completed his Grade 8 to 10. Motau went back to Ga-Mathabatha village to do his Grade 11 and Matric at Mashianyane Secondary School.

“I have always been passionate about radio since high school; I just didn’t know which platform to take.” Said Motau. His parents told him that if he wants to be in radio he must be a teacher first that will lead him to a career in radio.

“In 2007 I met a woman called Kgadi Selolo who was and still working for SABC in Limpopo. I told her that I want to work for radio one day, but didn’t know which course I should take since teaching in not what I wanted to study. Kgadi told me that if want to be on radio, I should study Journalism or Media Studies,” said Motau.

In 2010 he did a one year course in Versatile Broadcasting at Tshwane University of Technology and received a National Certificate. In 2012 he enrolled for a National Diploma in Journalism at TUT and completed in 2014. Motau didn’t stop there academically, he registered for a B-Tech Degree in Journalism in 2015 and completed it on a record time in the same year. He will be graduating for B-Tech this coming September.

In 2015 he got a job at TUT’s Department of Journalism as a TV students assistant and Executive Producer for TV News. He usually interacts with second year Journalism students, conduct diary meetings and produce the weekly news bulletins.

Motau further said that the Department of Journalism asked him to accompany the second year Journalism students on a tour to Primedia’s Talk Radio 702, a month ago. “This department has a good relationship with the media industry as a whole because it has been providing the industry with the best Journalists in the past decades. They always talk to the newsroom editors and find out what the industry requires, so that their teaching programs should match those of the Journalism industry,” he said.

Few weeks later, Motau was asked by Mr Tshamano Makhadi, a broadcasting lecturer at the Department of Journalism that Radio 702 asked for his CV and CV’s of other students. They sent their CV 's to the station and they were called for an interview.

“I made it to the interview and I was asked to do a two weeks training with them during the June University recess. I was covering stories, compiling news report and went out with other journalist to cover stories. Some of my stories were read on air, publish online and my video were also uploaded on their Youtube account.

Luckily on the last day of my two weeks training, the Chief-editor called me to her office and offered me a job as a Freelance Journalist,” said Motau.

He will be working at Talk Radio 702 for three days a week which is Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The next four days he will continue to work at the TUT’s Journalism Department.

Titus Tshungu a second year Journalism student said “he is a great person to work with, he is always pushing us and he is an inspiration to us all.”

Tshamano Makhadi said that Motau is someone who is focused, and he will succeed in whatever he chooses to do.

“I am very excited to join such a huge station and at the very same time I am nervous,” said Motau. He added that he never thought he will work for such a big news company so soon, but he is very thankful to the Department of Journalism at TUT as a whole. He also thanked his former lecturer and mentor Mr Tshamano Makhadi who has always been there for him.