Gift of the Gab

For half of his life “country boy” Gabriel Sithole couldn’t speak English, but today the ECR Early Bird is living the dream.

Gabriel Sithole describes himself as a KZN homeboy, who grew up splitting his time between Greytown and Durban, spending plenty of time with family. It was a happy, rural upbringing, and as Gabriel admits, as a teen he couldn’t speak a word of English.

Things changed dramatically when his mother’s employer moved to Johannesburg and decided to take Gabriel’s domestic worker mom with him. “He didn’t want to leave my mom behind, so he took us with him and placed me in a high school in Joburg where I was forced to learn English. I had to repeat Grades 10 and 11 because of the language issues, but English of course opened up a world of opportunities.

“I hated Joburg from the start, not only was there the battle with English, but I’m a Zulu at heart and Joburg is such a melting pot…I felt like I didn’t fit in. If you don’t speak English, you are stuffed.”

After matric Gabriel got a job at Health & Racquet as a personal trainer. It was here that a customer suggested he do some tests at a local community radio station. “After a few sessions I was offered work at ComutaNet, which would be combined with on-the-job training in production. There would also be opportunities for voice over work.”

As host of the weekly show Health and Fitness 411 Gabriel found his calling and remained on board for five years.

From there he embarked on a rather unsettled spell crisscrossing the country, all the while gaining much needed radio experience, but always longing to return to KZN. “I worked at Radio Helderberg in Cape Town, had a sports slot at Gagasi 99.5FM, had a spell at SuperSport, and worked in Cape Town again at Kaya FM.”

Then in December 2010 Gabriel was offered a trial on a weekend slot at ECR. “Hey, the trial must have gone well…I’m still there,” he quipped.

Today he hosts the Early Bird show from 2am to 5am. “When I arrive on the Ridge before my show, this place is like a ghost town. It is so quiet. I get in at about 1am to do my prep, check the latest news reports and keep tabs on all social media developments. This is when I gather my thoughts and plan the show.”

Gabriel refers to his job as radio companionship, keeping his listeners company. “There are loads of workers, at the port, or emergency services, hospital workers, drivers, etc who are avid listeners. As we move towards the end of my slot, the sports enthusiasts come into play.”

Regulars on the show include a music history and news (of the past couple days) feature at 3.45am; the classic fourplay at 4am; and brain of the day. The weather report is an important service for those sporty listeners who make an early start to the day.

“My personal music preference is pop/rock, and while we’re pretty mellow early on, the tempo picks up from 4am to 5am.”

Gabriel says he is very fulfilled doing a job he loves and living in KZN. “I still go up to Greytown fairly often. When I’m done with the smart clothes and cellphones, I go into the fields with the herds and even have stick fights on occasion. It’s important, it’s a part of who I am.”

And the future? “I’ve learned that all those big dreams of getting a job with a world class international radio station are not actually that important. I’m living the dream now…living where I want to, and getting up (damn early) every day to do a job that I love.”

Gabriel’s Memorable Moments…

“I had an excellent interview with Bobby Skinstad once, which I’ll always remember, and I worked as producer on Ian F’s show when he was with ECR. Ian was the consummate professional…unflappable. When absolutely everything went wrong, Ian was able to carry the show effortlessly with his calm interactive style. I really enjoyed working with him.”

Story by Garth Johnstone