Grand Zulu lady of airwaves with a heart as big as her legacy

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When Winnie Mahlangu joined Radio Bantu in 1962, there were already women announcers such as Nomusa Buthelezi, Mary Nontolwane, Mamane Jali and Joyce Dlamini. However, all of them were part-time broadcasters while she was employed as a full-time staff member from the onset.

That's why her name has gone into the history of broadcasting as the first African woman announcer at the SABC. In those years the world of broadcasting was a predominantly male domain and women inside broadcast studios were an exception.

These were the early years of Radio Bantu, a state-controlled radio service for African audiences in their various ethnic languages.

Its home was the SABC Broadcast House in Commissioner Street in the Johannesburg CBD.

The majority of black women announcers were school teachers and only came in to the SABC studios once a week to record their programmes. The concepts and contents of these shows reflected gender stereotypes that informed women's roles in society.

These pioneering but unsung announcers presented magazine programmes that focused primarily on women, children's education, cooking, hygiene and lifestyle. But in the bigger scheme they were ideologically voiceless as the content of their shows was conceptualised by white males to decide on what was good for an African listenership.

These shows were scripted in Afrikaans and English - the country's only official languages at the time - and translated into the relevant African languages by the presenters. But they did their best under these oppressive conditions to give their audiences informative and entertaining content.

It's against this background that Mahlangu joined the Zulu language service of Radio Bantu just two years after it was launched. The third child in a family of six, she was born Bawinile Busisiwe Mahlangu on August 14 1934 in Kwa-Guqa, a township adjacent the mining town of Witbank in the then Eastern Transvaal (Mpumalanga).

Although her parents were not wealthy and lacked formal education, they valued schooling as a gateway to a better life. So they worked hard to educate their children.

At the time the African language in the classroom for children from Ndebele homes was Zulu. The two languages are both are from the Nguni group. On completing schooling, Mahlangu was trained as a teacher at a college in Middelburg, where she graduated with a teacher's diploma. She was then employed at a primary school in Etwatwa, outside Benoni on the East Rand (Ekurhuleni).

Mahlangu would later recall how she entered the world of broadcasting by pure chance.

Mandla Sibiya, one of the presenters at Radio Bantu, told her about a vacancy for a female announcer at the station. "My mother was not impressed and advised me to stick to teaching as she believed it was a reliable career that guaranteed a solid future," she later recalled.

"On the other hand, my father didn't mind. He encouraged me to give it a try."

Little did she realise that her move from the classroom to the broadcasting studios wasn't necessarily the end of her teaching career. She presented a number of educational programmes during her illustrious 31-year career behind the mic, enjoying respect and adulation from hosts of listeners alongside equally illustrious colleagues such as Sibiya, Alexius Buthelezi, Gybon Mpanza as well as female contemporaries already mentioned.

Mahlangu was baptised Mafungwase - the first-born girl - due to her groundbreaking role on the airwaves for women broadcasters. The moniker came from no less a personage than King Edward Masinga himself, a pioneering broadcaster in black radio and already an accomplished announcer in the early '60s. Mahlangu's household women's programmes included Khongozela Mame, Kuguga Othandayo, Ezabomame and Iziko Nekhaya - based on health, lifestyle and home issues.

In 1972, after having worked for a decade at the Johannesburg studios, she was among a number of announcers who were transferred to the Durban offices.

The explanation for the exodus was that the SABC needed office space to train new talent for the emerging Tsonga and Venda broadcasting services.

On the other hand, the corporation was transforming the services into separate ethnic entities. The Northern Sotho service was relocated to Polokwane and its Southern Sotho counterpart to Bloemfontein.

That's how in 1976, Radio Bantu's Zulu radio service was relaunched as Radio Zulu, a name that lasted until 1995 when it was rebranded Ukhozi FM, the biggest radio station in SA.

Subsequently Mahlangu would pave the way for a number of women to aspire for careers in broadcasting. These included Masonto Buthelezi, Malindi kaNtuli, Zamambo Mkhize, Dudu Khoza, Bongi Gumbi Magudulela, Vicky Masuku, Zanele Mbokazi, Gugu Marawa, Annette Makhanya, Fikile Komotolo and Camilla Walker, the white Zulu-speaking continuity presenter on SABC1 in the mid-90s.

She was also instrumental in bringing on board a fellow Ndebele speaker. A former schoolteacher as well, Elijah "Thetha" Masombuka joined Radio Bantu as a vinyl spinner before he distinguished himself as the doyen of football commentators and an announcer. He coined many nicknames for soccer stars as well as the gqim shelele! battle cry later adopted by Robert Marawa on his TV sport shows.

One of his favourite programmes was EzaMandebele - based on the history and traditions of the southern Ndebele people. In this regard he blazed a trail for the establishment of Radio Ndebele (now Ikwekwezi FM) in 1983.

Alongside the numerous women's shows Mahlangu presented was Ngiswela Amaphiko, a flagship programme that defined her role on the airwaves as an inspiration to women, self-made social worker, counsellor, motivational speaker and community builder.

The show profiled the struggles and achievements against all odds of ordinary women in the countryside. To share their inspirational stories with her listeners, she travelled extensively across rural Zululand for a first-hand experience as she documented their projects and challenges.

Her devotion to empowering ordinary women also brought her into the company of influential ones like Princess Magogo Ka Dinuzulu, a musician whose Zulu classical compositions have become a benchmark in the repertoire of subsequent women performers, notably mezzo soprano Sibongile Khumalo.

And although Mahlangu would become a household name and on first-name basis with other members of Zulu royalty including Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and King Goodwill Zwelithini, she never forgot her humble origins in Witbank and the struggles of women in the country and elsewhere.

"Radio made me realise how much I enjoyed helping people. I learnt a lot because when I interviewed people, I used to share that information with listeners. I was not an expert but I had access to all the experts; doctors, professors, nurses, farmers - you name them. In the end I found myself playing various roles. But I really got the satisfaction of knowing that I had made the life of that one person who needed help a lot easier," she would later reflect. An avid music lover, her constellation of female stars included Miriam Makeba, Margaret Mcingana, Sophie Mgcina, Letta Mbulu and Ella Fitzgerald.

Even after her retirement at the SABC in 1993, she continued her humanitarian programmes, in particular working with the department of social development to help senior citizens with regular needs such as pensions and transport to healthcare facilities. In 1996 the Media Workers Association of South Africa (Mwasa) launched the Winnie Mahlangu Bursary Fund for deserving children of SABC employees with her as its patron. This honour was primarily an acknowledgement of her philanthropic contributions to the education of the African child.

During her long career she selflessly and tirelessly helped many students with financial aid to pursue their studies. Some of these children stayed at her home in Umlazi outside Durban. However, according to her daughter Thembi Buthelezi, in the twilight of her life she has been wondering what could have happened to all those university and college graduates that she has assisted to achieve their dreams.

"Most of them have not bothered to keep in touch, let alone express their gratitude for her efforts in changing their lives."

When Mahlangu left for Durban in 1972, she asked a married couple who were family friends to move into her Wattville house. When the couple died their children were allowed to keep occupancy of the house. Before the death of Miranda Mchunu, one of the children in April this year, Buthelezi says she told her that her mother would like to reclaim ownership of the house for her grandchildren.

"Most of them have not bothered to keep in touch, let alone express their gratitude for her efforts in changing their lives."

But Buthelezi says when she went to the City of Ekurhuleni offices for the municipality statements in preparation to reoccupy the house, she discovered it was registered under the now deceased Mchunu.

She subsequently wrote an email dated May 13 to the MMC for housing Lesiba Mpya who promised to attend to the matter. The family would like to know how and why ownership of the house was changed without the consent of its original occupant.

Buthelezi also says last year mayor Mzwandile Masina called to check on the retired broadcaster and said he was planning to include her on the planned awards for Ekurhuleni stalwarts which means the mayor's office is aware that she has her house in Wattville.

"It is now a shock to learn that the house belongs to someone else. We are asking for an investigation into the matter and advice on how we can retrieve the ownership of the house, especially now that they are all gone and the rightful owner is still around," said says.

In 2009 Mam' Winnie suffered a stroke that severely affected her speech. Her pioneering contribution in the field of broadcasting as well as her unwavering acts of generosity has earned her a string of awards over the years. These were crowned with the Order of Ikhamanga (silver) in 2015.

As a way of honouring this grand old lady of the airwaves in Women's Month, UKhozi FM is running the Winnie Mahlangu female talent search to unearth young and promising talent in radio journalism.

Every week a finalist is announced based on a listeners' vote. Contestants are judged on the short presentation they send to the station. The winner will be declared on August 27.

Buthelezi said the SABC has promised to send some officials to her home in Pretoria East to toast her mother's health as she celebrates her 86th birthday.