Abel Ndooka
IN yesterday’s edition of this newspaper we celebrated the work of Kudzai Violet Gwara, popularly known as KVG, and we said she was the best Radio Personality in Zimbabwe this year.
The Star FM star has charmed millions of radio listeners with her vintage presentation in her shows.
She is now one of the most recognisable faces on screen and radio.
KVG rose to prominence during her “326 Express” show on Star FM, which once featured Phathisani Sibanda.
Phathisani left Star FM and is now on Capitalk FM.
There were some who felt that KVG would struggle without Pathisani on her side.
But, she has proved that she is a genuine talent who can stand on her own.
That is why we honoured her as our Radio Personality of the Year for 2024.
However, in doing so, we also realised that we were venturing into a field where we were likely to court controversy.
It’s normal in such situations because we all can’t have the same choice in terms of who are our best radio personalities in a particular year.
We know there is a constituency that will say that DJ Chilli, Linda Mhuriro, Tinashe Chikuse, DJ Smile, DJ Squilla, Butterfly, Skywalker, Chikara Ndundu, the immortal Tilda Moyo and Pathisani are their radio personalities of the year.
We respect that.
That is why we also sought the views of others, like top musician Pauline Gundidza, on this subject.
Pauline told us that KVG has brought life to radio, she is very intelligent and has a great sense of humour, she avoids scandalising her guests, she has elevated from just being a voice to a visible personality and celebrity.
She said KVG has taken on the corporate world and she is inspiring many women to strive for gold.
However, others were not in agreement.
Prominent medical doctor, Johannes Marisa, said there are many unsung presenters in the country spanning across all radio stations and if fairness is to be exercised, you will see KVG is not the best DJ today.
That’s also fair and we respect his opinion.
For us, what matters is that we put this subject into the public for discussion and, in the process, one thing stands out – we are all celebrating our radio personalities.
By bringing other names into the debate, it is in a way a celebration of the work that they are doing at various radio stations in the country.
That was our main mission – to celebrate these personalities who, through radio, have been entertaining, informing and educating millions of our people.
These fellows do it on a daily basis and we feel their work should be appreciated better than the way we have been doing.
We can’t be a nation that celebrates the best radio personalities in South Africa while not celebrating our own people who could also be doing better than those in Mzansi.
So, to all our radio personalities, thank you so much for the work you did this year and do it even better next year.
Online Reporter
