Lynette Johns
THREE Cape Times reporters graduated from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) yesterday with qualifications in journalism.
Lisa Isaacs, Siyavuya Mzantsi and Francesca Villette completed their three-year diploma in journalism at the end of last year.
They were made permanent Cape Times employees this month. Cape Times deputy editor Aziz Hartley said it was a great joy to work with each one of them. “I have witnessed their growth and it brings me great joy,” Hartley said.
Hartley described them as tenacious reporters who always got their jobs done.
Mzantsi praised his mother Busisiwe, who “worked her socks off” to make sure there was money to pay for his fees.
“In many cases we worked against the clock and scrambled for registration money, but we did it. I am also grateful that the Cape Times took me on as an intern. Such opportunities don’t come easily, so when this one came I grabbed it with both hands.”
Villette said being a journalist was not a job but rather her craft, and that it was in her blood. “I am privileged to wake up every morning and do what I am passionate about. News, right now, is my life,” she said.
Isaacs developed her love of news by watching her father read newspapers and, once he had finished, she would read them as well.
“After developing a love for current affairs and writing, I began my studies at CPUT, but nothing would prepare me for the frantic, deadline-driven newsroom I discovered.
“Even though arriving at the paper during a period of change, it has been an exciting time. I feel privileged to work with this dynamic team. Thank you to the Cape Times for granting me the opportunity to do so,” Isaacs said.