An Instant Darling

Metro FM’s Pearl Shongwe wormed her way into our hearts with her crackly laughter and witty opinions. The 32-year-old lets us into her world!

- Pertunia Mkasa

I grew up between Diepkloof (DK) in Soweto, and Ennerdale, south of Johannesburg. “I was born in the former and lived with my grandparents for a while because my parents moved around a lot. At some point, my parents lived in a shack in Evaton and in backrooms until they bought a house in Ennerdale when my dad found a stable job. I still have very close ties to DK because of all the weekends and school holidays I spent there. I definitely appreciated Soweto more than I did Ennerdale because, at home, we were kept kids whereas, in DK, we would play until we dropped.”

Being a broadcaster has always been a childhood dream. “I believe in timing and that everything happens as it should. I’ve dreamt of being in broadcasting since the age of eight. I was very aware of my talents and abilities from a young age even though the grown-ups always made me feel like ‘ngiyaphapha’ or ‘ngizenza umuntu omdala’. I started my career in marketing and advertising, then went into public relations. Look at me now, I’m happy with how my journey unfolded even though it took much longer. I got to learn so much about broadcast from doing smaller shows and working behind the scenes for almost 10 years."