It's warm Thursday afternoon and Rorisang Thandekiso has just arrived at Urban Brew Studios. Her show on Touch HD, The Millennial Watch, wrapped up barely an hour ago and she’s already on to the next job.
She’s here to work on a live broadcast for the Department of Transport, which she’s producing. Rorisang’s journey in the entertainment industry started when she was a presenter on YOTV.
Public speaking and debating were interests of hers from an early age and she even represented South Africa at the Global Young Leader’s Summit as a teenager. She excelled there and saw it as another outlet where she could be around people, engage with them and tell a story. She recently registered her production company, which is something she’d been meaning to do for a while.
“I’m really getting into a space where as a production company I want business, I want to be able to pitch and get business and work. I’m really gunning for that.” She joined Touch HD in a strange way. Where Touch Central used to be is the same place where Mzansi Insider does its shoots.
So Touch walked past as they were both walking into the building and said that he’d been looking for her and asked her to come see him after the show.
When she went to see him he asked her to do a Sunday show in two week’s time. He told her it was a relaxed slot that wouldn’t be too hectic. Within three weeks she was being asked to fill in for other shows.
When they moved to Touch HD she got her weekly slot. Before then she’d done about two months on her own in the morning. Since she joined Touch Central (now Touch HD) last year, she’s been enjoying the experience of learning.
She wants to continue on this path and grow in her role as a radio host. “I’m calling 2017 and 2018 my learning playground or learning season. I’m out to absorb as much as I can.
I’m asking to tag along to things, I’m asking to sit in on meetings, I’m asking questions. I just really want to learn as much as possible. But for me I think I’m gunning for a place in the next five years to be able to create platforms that allow for others to jump on board.” She looks up to people like Tbo Touch, Khanyi Dhlomo and Gareth Cliff, who were all once employed in the industry but are now owners who have created platforms for others.
Learning how to balance has been a key component to her success.
“My ex-boss said to me, ‘Be careful you don’t become a jack of all trades and a master of none,’ and I think that has been the school of thought for many years.
But there are still people who are really good at more than just one thing and I think I’ve just started to finally make peace that I may fall into that category. And there’s nothing wrong with me exploring the different talents that I may have.
“I’m at a place where I can run the desk by myself. I can be in the booth on a Sunday when no one else is here, and I can be in every day of the week when everyone is here.” She’s also expanding her taste in music. “It’s really stretched me to a point where I’m not just about myself, I’m about the entertainment. I understand that it’s broader than me just coming in and playing my favourite song.
It’s understanding that you have a network of people on the other side listening to you and you’re responsible for the entertainment part of their lives.
“And that’s a hugely important part because we’re all going through rubbish and nonsense in our lives and it’s amazing what a song or a funny conversation can do for somebody in the moment you have them listening to you.”