Even when threatened with rape, Carte Blanche’s Masa Kekana doesn’t back down from a story

On Sunday nights Carte Blanche presenter Masa Kekana asks the tough questions and takes audiences through current affairs and fine investigative journalism.

She used to watch Carte Blanche as a pre-schooler and, three decades later, welcomes a new generation of viewers.

We met over lunch at Pablo’s. The restaurant is situated on the ground level of Sandton’s Mint Hotel. It’s street level, and a splash pool separates Katherine street from raised diners. It’s uber cool dining, not trendy, but beyond definition.

It almost feels lounge-ish and with great hip hop at a volume that encourages conversation and takes the awkward out of momentary silences.  The atmosphere at Pablo’s is warm and authentic, just like Masa.

The menu includes some of Masa’s favourite cuisines. She loves pizza and anything Italian. She is a junk food foodie, too.
She said: “I love pizza. I love ribs. I love grilled barbecue meat and chicken wings. And I love a good five-star fine dining experience.”

But her relationship with food is one of slow enjoyment, like a never-ending story where there’s always something left behind on the plate and enjoyed later.

“I never finished my food, ever. It has just been this way since I was a kid. I would eat my cereal for 4 hours.

“I have pictures of myself as a four-year-old with my dad holding a cereal bowl in his hands and chasing after me to try and feed me, Masa recalls.

“After four bites, I am full. So, you might notice I will eat four bites, and I am like, okay, that is enough. And then 15 minutes later, I will have another three bites.” Masa laughs and adds:

“So I have a very interesting relationship with food, but when it’s not there, I’m not a nice person.”

She gets hangry.

Watch: Out to lunch at Pablos with Carte Blanche’s Masa Kekana

Her journey to the show wasn’t intended at first. Initially, Masa wanted to study law, but that segued into an interest in diplomacy, and at some point, she wanted to head into banking. “That was until I found out what bankers do,” she said.

Masa’s parents played a big role in exposing her to various professions throughout her early years, arranging workplace visits and discussing various options with her.

In the end, Masa moved to Cape Town to read political science at the University of Cape Town.

Her career in journalism happened unexpectedly. While looking for part-time work, she applied at a community radio station. “When it came to part-time work, I considered waitressing, but I was bad at it. Then I looked at retail, but I was not great at being a shop assistant either.”

Instead, her stint in radio led to building a solid foundation for the rest of her career. She fell in love with journalism.

When Masa broke the news to her parents, she told her dad first, whom she expected to be supportive of her decision. Her mum, she laughed, asked her whether she realised that she would never be rich if she followed her passion. The journey had started.

Later, Masa joined Primedia and hosted a music show before joining the newsroom. She completed her degree, too, and became a familiar voice on Eyewitness News for several years.

“My career path has not been linear. Instead, it was all over the place until I finally found myself and realised my purpose.”

Masa joined Carte Blanche in 2019 after cold calling the show’s producers and sharing her interest in working on the show. A few weeks later, she was out on her first story.

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And while she was filming her first story, the crew got robbed at gunpoint. It was a prelude to working for a show where stories are at times highly controversial, and the characters pursued somewhat dodgy.

“One of the scariest instances happened during lockdown. We were investigating a story and sat down to interview an anonymous source. The producer’s phone rang, and the voice on the other side commanded us to stop.

“The person said that they knew what we were doing, who we were talking to, and, if we do not cease and desist, it would be no problem to arrange a happenstance incident of rape,” she recalls

The threat shook Masa and the producer, but they went ahead and did the story anyway. Masa believes in the truth and informing the public, and to date, she said, at least the threat was an empty one.

She added: “Thankfully, we are still here, and nothing has happened. But it was a terrifying and disgusting thing to threaten women with. But those are some of the dangers we face on controversial stories.”