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ow, with her career entrenched, her
experience and talent secure the job
— not her appearance. “The onus is
on you to prove yourself when you get
there, so that those people you weren’t
‘enough’ for can see past what you look
like, what you sound like and what
you supposedly are to them.” Alakhe,
Anele’s 4-year-old son walks in, just as I’m about to ask the
question I’m most anxious about. He definitely wants mom’s
attention, but eventually retires to his bedroom.
Driving to the shoot that morning, a billboard I’d seen
numerous times catches my attention once again. An animated
Anele and her 947 Breakfast Club team are displayed,
accompanied by the caption “Queen of Morning Radio”. My
immediate thought was, “Wow, lentombazane ines’bindi”
[this girl has guts]. That’s a heavy title to own!” So, does the
crown fit? I ask, wondering if she has received any backlash
from other industry players.
“It definitely does! While on air today, I had a moment
where I went, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m actually very good at this!’”
She delves into an idea she and the team had — to find the
best cuddler amongst them — and how they worked tirelessly
on the execution before going on air. “People think radio’s
glamorous, but I always tell them it’s a lot of hard work and
consistency is important,” she explains.“There was some back
and forth between us, our station manager, the creatives and
the bosses about the phrase ‘The Queen of Radio’. They were
like, ‘You’re not just the queen, you kick the guys’ asses too —
so you’re the king ’. My response was, ‘You can’t put Ruler of
Radio on a billboard so I like the word queen because I love
that I’m a woman!’”
She veers off topic and commends her team for the hard work
they put in. From Alex Caige who runs the desk, newsreader,
Thembekile Mrototo, whom Anele believes deserves an
international audience, her co-host, the witty Frankie Du Toit,
as well as the nurturing Cindy Poluta on sports. Anele co-owns
a production company called Rose and Okes with Frankie. Oh
Baby, their first TV production about the booming world of
baby showers, will be flighted on 1Magic from Friday 11 October
at 20h30 and repeated at 12h00 on Saturdays. There will also
be a Mzansi Magic simulcast on Sundays. When Anele put up
an Instagram post, in July this year, urging those in the thick
of organising baby showers to enter, she received over 500
entries on the spot. “I believe that in a country where 65% of
kids are born to single mothers, we put too much unnecessary
focus on weddings.”
For weeks leading up to the shoot, the TRUE LOVE team
conceptualised everything to a T — from styling, crew to
location. We wanted to portray Anele as the queen she is and
even pitched our ideas to her, which she absolutely loved. She
moved from look to look with ease and the confidence of someone
who knows exactly what they want from life — a great relief
and time-saver for the team.
Having worked on big productions such as Strictly Come
Dancing, SA’s Got Talent, Clash of the Choirs SA, Real Talk with

Anele andTheVoiceSA, I askifshethinksshehasreachedher

peak. “No,I’mnowherenearpeaking.I muststilldoa cooking

show becauseI lovecooking—andmayI addthatI’mvery

good at it[chuckles].I stillhavetodoanothertalkshow,and

this timearounditmustbeinternational!”Herbroadcasting

career hasmostlyoscillatedbetweenanchorandpresenter

roles —exceptonClashoftheChoirsSAwhereshewasa judge.

“I really preferhosting.I likescriptingandplanninghowto

engage andtakethevieweronanemotionaljourney.”

AnelehadhittheTVprime-timejackpotwithSABC3’s

Real TalkwithAnele. Itwasthroughthattalkshowthatshe

cementedherselfinviewers’heartsandminds.“RealTalk

with Anelewasreallyoneofmybiggestheartbreaks—but

as with myrelationships,girl,I canmoveon!Thingsstarted

disintegrating,inwhatwasbeingputon,andI feltitwould

compromiseallofus.I feltlikewewerenolongeroperating

at the samelevelwewereonwhenwefirstkickedoff.I’dbeen

in conversationwithmymanager,OwenSwanson,fornine

months beforeleaving,sheshares.”Sheadds,“Myboyfriend

still remembersthosedayswhenI’dgostraightfromtheradio

show to startpreppingforRealTalkwithAnele. Hestarted

noticing thatI wascominghomefortwo-hournapsinbetween,

and said,‘Youdon’tenjoyitanymoreanditpainsmebecause

you love interviewingpeople’”.Atthispoint,sheremembers

some of theshow’spivotalmoments—oneofthembeingEFF

PresidentJuliusMalemasharingwhata nervouswreckhewas

when heproposedtohiswife.“Hesaidthat’swhydivorceis

out of thequestionforhimbecausehedoesn’twantto,ever,

find himselfproposingtoanotherwoman.Headdedthathe’d

rather gotowarwiththethenPresidentJacobZumathanpop

the questionagain.Thatwasoneofthemostdifficultmoments

in his lifeandI gothimtoopenupaboutit.”

Anele recentlybaggedanexcitingnewTVshowintheformof

CelebrityGameNightonE!,a 10-episodeEmmy-awardwinning

series thatfeaturesA-listcelebritiescompetinginvariousgames

in an at-homestudio.TheshowissettopremiereonMonday,

October 28at20h00(CAT).“Sobasically,it’sgamenightatmy

house andwe’llbeplayinga totalofsixgames.There’sa bar

and peoplearegettingtoastedbecauseI’mservingthemreal

drinks. Therearesnackstoo,anaudienceanda band.Listen,

every freakingA-listerinthiscountrywillbeontheshow!”

MY MODERNFAMILY

Anele’s phoneringsinthemiddleofoursecondcovershot—

meaningnomusicfora bit.Whilelaughing,sheinstructsher

assistanttoanswerandtellherboyfriendthat(1)she’sshooting

and (2) he’sjustinterrupteda TevinCampbellclassic.Ina few

seconds,ComeBackToTheWorld,isbackon.

AnyonewhofollowsAneleonsocialmediawouldhavenoticed

that she didn’tannounceherseparationfromherson’sfather.“I

knew threemonthsafterAlakhewasbornthattherelationship

was doomed[chuckles]”.Probingfurther,I askifthethought

of being asinglemothereverhauntedher.Withoutflinching,

she responds,“What?Itdidn’tscaremeonebit!”Thatsaid,

they havea greatco-parentingrelationship.“Youcantellkids

things asmuchasyouwantbutthebiggestimpactismadeon

WWW.TRUELOVE.CO.ZA (^) |^2019 OCTOBER (^) |^39
COVER STORY