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Bruce Ndlovu
When your grandfather is a nationa��s first trained black physician and your father followed, walking steadily in the familya��s legendary footsteps would you feel the pressure to follow too and pick up the stethoscope?
This is a question that many would have no doubt posed to one of the countrya��s foremost radio and television personalities, Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa, who is the granddaughter of Dr Tichafa Samuel Parirenyatwa and the daughter of Dr David Parirenyatwa, the countrya��s Minister of Health.
During her stint on ZiFMa��s The Platform, Ruvheneko became the go-to presenter for those in search of hard hitting interviews from a presenter that did not shake or stir in the face of any big name, be they in politics, business, entertainment or civil society.
While other interviewers might dance around the tough questions, Ruvhi with calmness and poise probed around those questions that had the potential to raise the ire of whoever she was roasting on the hot seat that particular evening.
However, she was pulled from the programme and seemed to be in the danger of languishing in the wilderness as many thought she would struggle away from the programme that had cemented her position as one of radioa��s leading lights as she won the ears of even the harshest critics of her tough-as-nails interview style.
A few months later, however, Ruvheneko is again the toast of the radio scene, after getting nominated in the Best Female Urban Talk Show Presenter category at the Zimbabwe Radio Awards.
Having made a name for herself on radio, she revealed in a podcast interview with Two Broke Twimbos that she had never felt pressured to follow the seemingly set family profession.
a�?There was pressure in the family to be something. But there was never pressure to be my dad or be my granddad.
My dad has always believed in success and he never minced his words and he always made sure that always we had everything we needed to be successful. He always made it easy for us to do well,a�? she said.
She acknowledged, however, that the pressure might have influenced her older brother to answer the family calling and also pick up the stethoscope.
a�?The pressure I think befell my big brother who is also a doctor now. So thata��s the third generation of Dr Parirenyatwas and he is currently doing his houseman-ship at Parirenyatwa Hospital. So the pressure always falls on the guys because of the assumption that us ladies will change our names,a�? she said.
Although she did not become a medical practitioner, she said that her rich family legacy had contributed to her fierce sense of determination.
a�?The pressure to succeed has always been there which is why when I put my mind to something I want to make sure I do it well because I do believe that I carry a name that had legends holding it. I have enough respect for my grandfather and he is someone that I wish I could have met, just to feel his aura, because I meet people that talk about him and I wish I did,a�? he said.
The erudite radio presenter, who is still working behind the scenes at ZiFM, went on to recount her early days and experiences at the station after she finished her studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
When I left UCT my first job was at GQ Magazine then went to Johannesburg where I worked for African Leadership Network before I moved back to Zim. Then I got talking to a few people that told me Supa was opening this radio station and then I tried and tried setting up a meeting with Supa but he was just too busy. But right before I was about to go we finally managed to meet,a�? she said.
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