A young Mzobanzi Jikazana, left, and co-host Manelisi Wolela interviewed Nelson Mandela during his first visit to the Eastern Cape shortly after his release from prison. Picture: Supplied A young Mzobanzi Jikazana, left, and co-host Manelisi Wolela interviewed Nelson Mandela during his first visit to the Eastern Cape shortly after his release from prison. Picture: Supplied
Cape Town – Journalists and communicators paid tribute to veteran broadcaster Mzobanzi Jikazana following his death after a short illness.
The news of Jikazana’s death came as a shock to many of his former colleagues, who described him as someone who epitomised living life to the fullest, with energy and a passion for journalism.
Trained as a teacher, Jikazana, 63, cut his teeth in broadcasting with CKI FM in the mid 1980s, where he
was the executive producer and presenter of news actuality programmes.
A few months after South Africa ushered in a new democracy in 1994, he joined the SABC in Sea Point as news editor, and was later promoted to executive producer for both radio and TV.
SABC Western Cape editor, Kenneth Makatees, said: “With the political changes (taking place in the country) the SABC had to change as well.
“It was people like Jiks, as he was affectionately known, who contributed to the SABC being a public broadcaster that broadcasts for all South Africans.
“He was instrumental in bridging the divides of the past and brought people together in one newsroom that crossed the racial barriers of the past.
“Jikazana was a communicator for most of his adult life, whether it was in the SABC newsroom or in the different roles that he played in government communications. An amiable person, who made a lasting impression on us as his former colleagues.”
Makatees described Jikazana as a broadcaster who was gifted with a “deep voice” and an “infectious laugh”, and was able to put people at ease.
Jikazana worked alongside former broadcaster and now head of media and stakeholder relations at Parliament, Manelisi Wolela.
Wolela said Jikazana pursued truth with passion, and helped in empowering listeners and the general public to make informed decisions.
“He was not afraid to speak truth to power.
"Many of us in the media and in the communications practice owe what we have become to Jiks’ guidance and coaching. We have lost a trustworthy friend, a leader, a broadcaster par excellence, a perennial learner and a great educator.”
One of the great moments Wolela remembered was when he and Jikazana interviewed President Nelson Mandela during his first visit to the Eastern Cape after his release from prison in 1990.
“Our radio studio was packed with local, national and international media on that day. And our show gained popularity with listeners,” Wolela said.
Jikazana’s passion for connecting the public to affairs affecting their lives also led him to working for the government, first at Buffalo City municipality from 2005 to 2009, and later for the Government Communications and Information System.
He was also a spokesperson for former labour ministers Membathisi Mdladlana and Mildred Oliphant.
At the time of his death, Jikazana was working for the Nelson Mandela municipality as the director of communications.
He leaves his wife, two daughters and his mother.
Jikazana will be buried in Peelton, Eastern Cape, on July 5.