by Nhlawulo Vision Chauke
Mbalenhle Zuma, a Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Journalism Alumna and former Work Integrated Learning candidate at Bua Student Newspaper, won the 2024 Basadi Music Awards Entertainment Journalist of the Year award on 10 August 2024. She triumphed over four other nominees from different media outlets to be named the winner at this year’s awards ceremony.
She received the recognition for her dedication and willingness to venture into uncharted territory.
“I actually never wanted to be an entertainment journalist; I wanted to become a sports reporter,” Zuma admitted.
However, her journey took a different turn when she joined Drum Magazine in late 2019 upon completing her WIL period at Bua, followed by her appointment at Sunday World in 2021.
“My colleagues convinced me that entertainment news is consumed everywhere. Once I realised the potential and the many stories to tell about people in different spaces, I was sold on the idea of becoming an entertainment reporter,” she added.
Zuma's hard work and determination at Sunday World have paid off, as evident from her award win.
“When I received the nomination I was pleasantly surprised that people liked my work that much. I guess this was God's timing. Being nominated meant that people out there like my work, have been following my work and deemed it good enough to nominate it for an award.”
Sunday World Entertainment Journalist and Basadi Music Awards 2024 Entertainment Journalist Of The Year, Mbalenhle Zuma.
Despite facing many challenges as an entertainment journalist, Zuma remains committed to her craft.
“Social media and citizen journalism, where everyone becomes a ‘reporter’ make life difficult for entertainment journalists, but I believe in time people will see that entertainment journalists also produce accurate and factual stories,” Zuma said.
One of Zuma’s best stories in the entertainment space was a about the killing of Musa Khawula - how Musa Khawula allegedly murdered his boyfriend.
“I was quite afraid doing the story, since I didn’t know how Khawula would react, especially because of the finer details on how he murdered the person written in the article. That is also the reason I am not currently active on Twitter. People who followed the story became interested in getting to know the journalist who wrote it personally.”
Asked about her advice to aspiring journalists she said: “Do not get sucked into the world of entertainment even though it happens easily. It is easy to start thinking that you are the celebrity or you even want to become an influencer. Know the limits between work, personal space and friendship. Sometimes, your celebrity friends might do something you will have to write about, which could make life difficult.”
Zuma is hopeful that the award will help to open new doors and future growth opportunities for her to explore, including lifestyle journalism.
“I would like to become an editor sometime, because there are so few female editors in industry. I hope one day I can start my own thing, like a podcast,” she concluded.