By Monwabisi Jimlongo
It looks like it was a lifetime ago when Lesedi FM sport commentator and presenter Thabiso Mafereka used to be glued to his radio listening to Hlapane Masitenyane’s superb sport commentary.
Now Lesedi FM listeners listen to Mafereka’s flawless commentary on their favourite radio station.
“Listening to Ntate Hlapane Masitenyane doing live sport commentary inspired me,” Mafereka, a father of two from Tshirela village in Qwaqwa, said.
Even before joining Lesedi FM, Mafereka always believed that he would end up working for the SABC radio station. But an opportunity to be part of the station took longer than he thought.
“It was a difficult journey. In 2009 I got a chance to attend auditions at Qwaqwa community radio, that is where my radio journey started. Then I joined Lesedi FM in 2013 as a commentator. Now I’m doing a sport show during the week,” Mafereka revealed.
A first born in a family of six children, Mafereka has admitted that sport commentary has its own challenges.
“My dream was just to be behind the microphone, not commentary specifically. In commentary there’s a lot of challenges. Remember, you need to create a picture for the listeners. One other challenge is the pronunciation of names of different players,” Mafereka said.
