It's Time For Tumi!

A near-fatal car crash and an on-air row forced Tumi Morake to slow down and enjoy her blessings. She shares how her life has changed since then.

- Qhama Dayile

AS one of Mzansi’s leading comedians she’s used to making people laugh and seeing the lighter side of the most serious subjects.

But after the drama she endured last year

Tumi Morake was left battered and bruised – both in body and soul.

A backlash from the public after an on-air discussion with her co-host, a head-on collision that could have wiped out her family and some ugly name-calling on social media took their toll on the queen of stand-up comedy. It forced her to take stock of her life, get out of the fast lane and devote herself to her loved ones.

Tumi (36) recently hung up her mic after seven months on Jacaranda FM and is looking forward to the next chapter.

“I’ve overworked myself and didn’t make time for my family,” she says.

Tumi’s life was jam-packed. Along with hosting her own talk show, #WTFTUMI, she had a stint as a presenter on Mzansi Magic’s Our Perfect Wedding, was doing regular stand-up gigs and juggling her breakfast slot on Jacaranda.

“I was feeling a heavy load on my shoulders,” she admits.

Her time on Jacaranda will probably be best known for the race row – dubbed Tumigate – that saw her being hauled to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) after riled-up listeners accused her of hate speech.

Although Tumi and her co-host, Martin Bester, were acquitted, the BCCSA advised the pair to tread carefully when discussing racially sensitive topics.

The trouble started when Tumi and Martin discussed South African history and she compared apartheid to bullying.

“Apartheid is like a bully who forcefully took a child’s bicycle and then made the child share it,” she said.