Kenny Mathivha the new spokesperson for Limpopo’s premier

A well-known former radio journalist and public relations officer, Mr Kenny Mathivha, was recently appointed as the spokesperson of the premier of Limpopo.

He was a scholar at Mphaphuli High during the 1976 uprisings and, during that time, he learnt a lot of the activists of the time. After passing matric in 1979, he could not proceed to university, but taught English for a year at Mukula Secondary School. He managed to secure a scholarship to study public administration at the University of the North, an institution that was home to many activists.

In 1982, he became the art editor of Turflux Magazine, a student magazine at the university. After the Tiro Day protest and the closing down of the university, Mathivha was expelled, with many other students.

He went on to become a journalist and a correspondent of the South African Press Association. When Radio Thohoyandou was formed, he started to work there.

He became a freelance journalist for the BBC World Service in Transvaal. After the unbanning of political organisations in South Africa, he was given a scholarship by the ANC to study journalism in America in 1991. He studied at Jackson State University in Mississippi and came back in 1993.

The same year, he joined the BBC World Service in London as a journalist and producer. He worked in East and West Africa. He covered stories from the great lakes in 1994 in Rwanda and Bururndi, Uganda and Ethiopia.

In 1995, he joined the political desk of the SABC in Cape Town. He covered mainly President Nelson Mandela’s activities and travelled the world with him. During that time, he visited Botswana, Lesotho, Germany, Mozambique, Angola, the USA, Cuba and several other countries.

In 1988, he was appointed as spokesperson for Adv Ngoako Ramathlodi, the Premier of Limpopo. He left in 2000 and joined the SABS as its first black spokesperson. In 2004, he came back and joined the Limpopo Legislature as its spokesperson. In 2010, he became the spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture.

News - Date: 02 August 2013

Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Email: [email protected]