Last Wednesday marked the end of an era at Metro FM. Given Mkhari broadcast the final edition of his talk show, after three years. He is going to concentrate on his burgeoning business interests and that is as far as his disassociation with media goes.
Mkhari is giving up the microphone to take control of the broadcasting tower. Mkhari the radio man may be gone, but if things go his way, Mkhari the radio mogul will soon emerge.
Mkhari is the most prominent face and name in the consortium bidding for Capricorn FM, the new commercial radio licence in Limpopo. The radio bid indicates that he is consolidating his image as a businessperson.
Until now, the radio show personality has loomed larger than the businessperson. Less known is that Mkhari is the director of the wholly black-owned investment company MSG Afrika, chairperson of The Jupiter Drawing Room and chairperson of The Communications Firm.
This ought to reassure some of his radio supporters who called in during his last week on air, many bemoaning his departure and others under the impression that he was venturing out into the unknown.
The choice of targeting the Limpopo licence is, according to Mkhari, “going back to basics, going the full circle”.
This circle started in 1994 when he helped found Turf Radio, the first campus-based station to be awarded a community radio licence. Between 1996 and 1997, he started stringing for Radio Metro while working with radio stations in New York where he was studying at Bard University.
On his return to South Africa, he joined Gauteng’s Kaya FM as deputy marketing director and ended up as a talk show host, which made him the target of talk station 702 and Metro, to whose advances he eventually yielded.
Besides having been born in Limpopo, the decision to go for the licence in that province is driven as much by business imperatives as it is by naked ambition.
“I want to own media assets. I understand the medium [radio] and I think we can deliver a great product because we also understand the province.”
The venture encapsulates his idea of what empowerment is about.
“We want to prove it is possible to strike a balance between commercial viability while meeting the development needs of the people of the province,” says Mkhari.
His consortium is made up of Safika (who through Phaphama, held equity in the now defunct media outfit Nail), the University of Limpopo, Robert Nkuna, Yfm personality Shaba Muleya and a group of Limpopo women entrepreneurs.
Mkhari says the choice of the women’s consortium was inspired by the women having already started businesses and created employment in their communities and are therefore people who could be trusted with using their dividend to create more opportunities for the community in which they live.
The university shareholding is Mkhari’s idea of giving back to his alma mater. “My first radio job was at Limpopo. We started Turf Radio (the then University of the North radio station) with my business partner Simphiwe Mdlalose.”
Safika, which with MSG Afrika underwrites the venture, is headed by Limpopo-born Moss Ngoasheng.
“It is very difficult to find someone who believes in green-field projects. That is why we are glad to have Safika.
“Though they no longer participate in the media ownership space, that experience could not just be lost,” Mkhari says.
And why does he believe his consortium deserves the licence ahead of its rivals?
“It makes sense. We are broad-based, we have tried and tested media skills and we understand advertising.
“We are backed by accomplished businesspeople from the province and we have a strong relationship with the people who decide on media-spend.
“Not that I am saying we are entitled to it. I am cautiously optimistic.”
And no, Mkhari has no plans of returning to the microphone should his outfit win the licence. But like old boxers, you never really know with these radio people.
“I am not planning to go on air, but the thing with a passion is that it has a way of manifesting itself in many ways. There is a lot of talent out there and a need for new and fresh voices.”