FROM ploughing fields for a living while growing up in rural Woodford, KwaZulu-Natal, legendary sports broadcaster Zama Masondo has graduated with cum laude with a Master of Arts in African Languages at Unisa.
Known as “Mr Laduma”, the 72-year-old was admitted through the Recognition of Prior Learning process.
Masondo began his career at SABC as a translator/writer in the early 1980s.
He was a school teacher before becoming a commentator. His love for education and the drive to empower himself made it possible for him to keep improving his qualifications.
Masondo – whose studying journey began in 2009 when he started with a degree, then honours and a master’s degree – said people must learn from him that “you are never too young to get an education and experience”.
“My upbringing was not that hard and I can not say that I grew up struggling because we were able to make a living out of ploughing and selling monkey nuts to school children and life was simple back then.
“I was not the smart one at home but because of the love I had for education it made me be patient and believe in myself. During my undergraduate days up to my master's degree, I dedicated myself, my time to studying hard and that was because of the hunger I had for education. My next move now is to register for a PHD,” he said.
Masondo, whose research was based on the development of African languages at Unisa, recalls his first broadcasting day as exciting as everyone fell in love with his bold and smooth voice.
“There had been a gap back in the days in the broadcasting sector and I always wanted to do something different for the people, which is broadcasting in vernacular because for a very long time African languages were excluded from the industry.
“Once I got into the industry I was able to express myself the way I wanted to. I once worked for TV2 and TV3 and other stations that were not for blacks. Sports in SA was considered to be a racial thing, and as a result, commentating in African languages was not so popular.
“Due to economic sanctions that were imposed by most countries against South Africa because of its apartheid policies, sports teams and African commentators were excluded from international events. This took away the opportunities for African languages to develop in the sporting fraternity,” said Masondo.
His master’s supervisor, Professor Stanley Madonsela, the acting chairperson of the Department of African Languages in the College of Human Sciences, said Masondo’s application went through a vetting process by the department’s Higher Degrees Committee, which recommended that he be admitted for the qualification.
“He was admitted on the basis that he holds an undergraduate degree majoring in African languages. His vast experience in the language and development sector as a sports commentator and his contribution in coining a great deal of soccer terms and phrases in isiZulu were considered valuable traits,” said Madonsela.