I don’t often talk about radio from a deeply personal place.
The nature of what we do requires a balance between creative flair and analytical thought. An incredible sense of time and timing. A belief of self, and the want to serve others. Context, interest, and juxtaposition as well as intellect and curiosity. A measure of luck helps as does empathy and the ability to listen. In a tone-deaf world, good broadcasters are in-tune with their audience and oscillate at their own frequency.
On the Friday after Johnny Clegg passed away on 16 July 2019, I was just before the New Road off ramp in Midrand, travelling in the direction of Johannesburg; it was just after 9am. The mic went live, and the voice of Eusebius McKaiser started his usual 9-12 slot on 702.
There was a glint of mischief for a Friday, a playfulness, and a general feeling of being upbeat. McKaiser quickly went to the lines to filter the mood of the audience and took a call from a female caller, I would say in her 50s, she spoke isiZulu and English. From what I recall he had asked the audience to welcome the weekend, celebrate it and share their good news.
His engagement with the caller was electric. He got her. He allowed her to flourish in her small window of having a voice. He listened to her and responded. He challenged her, she accepted. They laughed and spoke. They cajoled each other and said goodbye like old friends. Their conversation signalled the end of the work week. It lasted less than a minute, I wished for more.
His calling and craft
As a radio professional he did several things in that link that showed he understood his calling and craft.
He connected. As a listener, he had opened the door and invited me in, he let me sit at his table and meet his friends. I wasn’t eavesdropping I was included, in Afrikaans they would say, “Dit was moerse lekker”, and I felt lekker too!
He celebrated. Not only the end of the week and the audience, but an icon too. In his engagement with the caller, he was building up to an epic acknowledgment of the work of Johnny Clegg. As he got the audience to call for Friday and the weekend in isiZulu, ‘woza!’ he was acknowledging the anthemic ‘Woza Friday’ by Clegg.
He used the lyrics in his dialogue, he translated for non-Zulu speakers, and he thanked Clegg for his contribution to music and society.
McKaiser was calculated. He knew what he wanted to achieve when he went to air, but I never saw it coming. He surprised me, he surprised the caller, he lit up the situation by being meticulously prepared and flawless in execution.
He was confident. We underestimate the emotional and physical strain broadcaster endure while on-air. He knew he could, and he wanted to. The elements fell into place, and he took control.
He cared. He cared to prepare, practice, and perform. He cared for the basics and respected the audience and the platform. He gave a shit in a world where politicians “fear fokol”.
Broke the rules
As a talk show host, he mastered the music that morning like no music presenter has ever done for me. He broke the rules and talked over the lyrics of Clegg’s ‘Woza Friday’, but it emphasised the song, in fact it made it more real and pertinent in the week of Clegg’s death. He used the intro, the beat, the rhythm, and the hook. He sold the music that day to the point that if I hear the song, I hear McKaiser and that mischief.
I’m not positioned or qualified to write about the life and times of Eusebius McKaiser, the broadcaster analyst, and media commentator. I never worked with him and only once engaged with him professionally after he left 702 as a potential contributor for the Radio Days Africa conference which I organised.
My impression is that he understood that some people can use their voices to the benefit of the world, and he was using his. As a listener I have been left wanting more from Eusebius, the sign of a supremely talented broadcaster.
Today Eusebius McKaiser changed his frequency. In my mind he’s singing along to Woza Friday, “Goodbye I’m going now, I’m going.”
Tim Zunckel is an audio ambassador and lover of stories. He currently works for Internews as the regional media business advisor for Africa.
