Tlou finds her voice as radio presenter

Ntsako Mabunda

LIMPOPO – HAVING a vague idea what she wanted to do since childhood, a TV presenter, journalist or marketer, Tlou Tlolane (22) completed a bachelor’s degree at Wits university. Her first opportunity to follow that came after hearing about auditions at Eldos FM for a newsreader.

“I did that for three months before being accepted into the Y Academy, YFM’s training programme.

“From then I started at Energy FM when it went on air in 2014. Working with Shabba, I get to learn something new every single day. It’s like receiving training daily. It’s really amazing!”

“I only found out when I was in gr. 8 that my other name was Tlou,” she says. “It certainly has more meaning than Daisry, the name I’ve always been called at home. A nurse was supposed to write Daisy and she wrote ‘Daisry’ making one big mess.”

Tlou (meaning elephant) was named after a great grandmother. Her mother is called Kwena, (crocodile) following a family tradition of naming first borns after animals, a tradition she vows to keep.

Polokwane born and Soweto raised, Tlou can speak seven languages, at only 22. She is doing her second degree in public relations through Unisa, partly as back-up due to the unpredictable nature of the media industry, and also to achieve a dream of having two degrees by age 25.

“Education is one of the things I’m very passionate about,”

She produces and presents Eclectic Elements from 09:00 to12:00, from Monday to Friday. Describing her radio personality as a motivational speaker and a producer “through and through”, she enjoys being part of the bigger picture that goes on behind the scenes.

Tlou acknowledges that producers in South Africa hardly get publicity, but that’s where her heart really is.

She’s not only creative, but manages to make a lot of ideas work. Though people expect her to let her radio career naturally progress into TV, she is adamant that she belongs in the background and nowhere near the camera.