One of South Africa’s most experienced news broadcasters, Tim Modise, returns to the place where his career started, Mahikeng, to deliver a public lecture on how the media have shaped cultural identify in democratic South Africa.
The lecture on 6 October is a collaboration between the Journalism Sub-programme of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) research niche area and the Tim Modise Foundation.
The lecture, scheduled to take place from 12:00 to 15:00 in Building A1, Room 261 on the Mahikeng Campus, will focus on the topic “Perspectives on the broadcast media as the cultural expression of the democratic South Africa”.
For Tim, the visit represents a homecoming. He began his career at Radio Bop in Mahikeng before moving to Gauteng, where he went on to anchor programmes such as Good Morning South Africa, Agenda, Lekgotleng le Modise, Modise ka 9 and election broadcasts in 1994 and 1999.
It all started here
Reflecting on this, Prof Gilbert Motsaathebe, coordinator of the ILMA Journalism Sub-programme, says the university is honoured to welcome Tim back to the city where his professional journey started. “His return is symbolic for our students because it shows how a career launched in Mahikeng can grow to national and international levels.”
Over more than three decades, Tim has worked across multiple platforms including SABC TV and Radio, eNCA, Business Day TV, Radio 702, SAFM, Metro FM, BBC Radio, Soweto TV, M-Net Carte Blanche and Radio Bop.
National and international recognition has accompanied him throughout his career. He was named SABC Broadcaster of the Year in 1991, inducted into the South African Radio Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the Reconciliation Award from the Institute of Reconciliation and Justice, conferred by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Internationally, he was honoured with the Human Rights Award by the Jaime Brunet Foundation at the University of Navarra in Spain.
Prof Motsaathebe says the event provides an opportunity for students, staff and the broader community to engage with Modise’s reflections on the role of broadcast media in shaping cultural identity in democratic South Africa.
Those interested in attending are requested to RSVP before/on 30 September 2025 by sending an email to Dr Kgomotso Bosilong at kgomotso.bosilong@nwu.ac.za. The event will also be accessible via Microsoft Teams.
