Lessons we should take from Noxolo Grootboom’s career

“Ndinithanda nonke emakhaya.”

Those words were so familiar for 37 years. The words are timeless, but the one who spoke them is irreplaceable.

It’s impossible to ignore that a sitting president had to adjust his appointment with the nation to allow us to tune in and bid our final goodbyes to a legend.

On Tuesday, maNoxolo Grootboom bid us farewell and the face of broadcasting will need to be redefined. This was the end of an era. Broadcasting will no longer be of the quality and passion we have come to love over the years.

We have been forced to love those who have amassed impressive social media followings and a legion of fans, because our options are limited and the ones who make the call are more concerned about the number of followers more than qualitative output.

Broadcasting in the age of social media has influencers competing with graduates of the arts! We have to endure the punishment of social media spilling into the studio.

It seems it would make sense that social media success would translate to success in the broadcasting space – but it also changed the quality of the output.

We are tired of watching people bring nothing to the table and get paid for it. I imagine that to replace maNoxolo, to keep that rating, another influencer will be roped in – but at what cost?

I miss the time of good entertainment, the times of Moshidi Motshegwa et al and today we add Grootboom to the list.

When one channel-hops, it is the same faces with very little to bring to the table. There are still many viewers who choose quality over quantity.

That should be the lesson we taken from Grootboom’s many successful years: 37 years as a broadcaster translates into doing something right, into pride in a craft honed over the years.

But more than anything else, her capability outshone popularity. We loved her because she was the excellence our generation is battling to find.

A legend has bowed out, but may her greatness be a lesson for those that come after her.

Longevity over popularity!

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