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Tuesday, 10 November 2009 |
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Mpho Maumela
At age three she left South Africa to live in the United States of America. That is a rare episode in the life of an average South African child.
But in the case of Mpho Maumela it happened and the little girl imbibed a North American culture and accent that would remain a feature of her life forever. However, this early incursion into American life did no lead to total cultural conquest. Today, at the age of 23 Mpho speaks her home language Tshivenda with the greatest of ease. That is the resilience of African culture.
Today this young lady is part of the magnetic breakfast show on “Limpopo’s Hottest Frequency,” sharing the studio with the likes of Ashifa Shabba and B.K. Matewe. Replacing Mpho Melato, Mpho Maumela has settled well in an otherwise challenging environment in which the team must maintain a great momentum that was created more than a year ago when Capricorn FM was founded. Thousands of listeners of the breakfast show have gotten used to the voice and antics of this young lady.
Born at Siloam Hospital to Mr Tshifiwa Maumela and Modie Maumela in 1986, Mpho has three other siblings two brothers Mulamuleli and Mukoni as well as a sister Hangwani. Before leaving Venda to live with her aunt in the United States IN 1989, Mpho had attended crèche in Sibasa.
Her formal education started in the US where she lived with the aunt who worked for the University of Vermont. She did Grade One at Union Memorial Primary School and later transferred to Mallets Bay Primary School in the same State.
In recollection Maumela relived those moments as follows, “although I was the only black child at the school, I did not realise it until a bit later in my schooling. As a child in that environment the colour of one skin did not seem to count for anything. We were all children in class consumed by the challenges of primary education, not the colour of one’s skin.”
In 1995 Maumela returned to South Africa and was strangely registered at an Afrikaans medium school called Bregvlam and continued her education in the medium of Afrikaans. Later the school adopted a dual medium of instruction and Maumela chose to continue her studies through English as a medium of instruction.
After matriculation, Mpho Maumela went to further her studies in Gauteng where she joined the AAA School of Advertising in Randburg. Bored with the content of the programme in which she did not do particularly well, Maumela left Gauteng to study for a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies with the University of Venda for Science and Technology.
It was while doing media studies at Univen that Mpho got involved in radio work. She worked for Univen FM as presenter and producer.
While at Univen Mpho was looking for her breakthrough in radio and the dream was realised when one good day, after attending an interview, she received a call from Capricorn FM to break the good news.
She was the successful candidate to replace Mpho Melato on the most popular breakfast show in Limpopo. Today she a household name and charms her many fans every morning between 09h00 and 09h00. At her age, and with her determination and enthusiasm, Mpho Maumela is ready to take on the radio world and live her dreams.
“I want to become a brand in the media industry and am prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve my dreams,” enthused Maumela at the end of the interview.
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