Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, [email protected]
FORMER Radio 2 (now Radio Zimbabwe) presenter Ishmael Simiso Mzilethi was remembered on Saturday when his children held a tombstone unveiling ceremony for him, 14 years after his death.
The ceremony, held at Pelandaba Cemetery and the family house in Pumula, evoked nostalgic memories of the presenter, then known as Isilo Somsakazo, particularly how he captivated radio audiences and made Pumula proud.
Born in Bulawayo, Mzilethi died on 19 September 2010, aged 52.
At the time of his death, he had left ZBC and ventured into farming, but he remains one of the finest and crème de la crème of radio presenters in the country, having worked for both the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation before independence and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation after 1980.
His four children, Gugulethu, Hlengiwe, Zimiso, and Phiwokuhle, decided to honour their father with a tombstone, and the unveiling was marked with nostalgic memories as Pumula residents, family, and friends from elsewhere took turns to imitate his voice on radio.
Mzilethi was well-known for his trademark introduction, “Town ePumula, sangena Isilo”, which made him a household name, as he would always include Pumula in most of his radio broadcasts.
He worked alongside many presenters before and after independence in Harare and Bulawayo, including Sam Mkhithika, Inglam Nyathi, Jonathan Mutsinze, Lazarus Tembo, Nhlanganiso Mathimba, Nsukukazifani Ngwenya, Jabulani Mangena, Elias Mange Ndebele, Eric Knight, Ezra Tshisa Sibanda, Aby Dube, Sam Sibanda, Nonceba Mnkandla, Gift Msipha, Grey Gambiza Moyo, Joe Panganai, Simon Pashoma Ncube, Itai Godfrey Muchada, Brenda Moyo, Tilda Moyo, Malaki Nkomo, Deans Patrick Mutume, Regina Mpofu, Elizabeth Chengeta, Haile Velaphi Mlangeni, and others.
A majority of them have since passed on.
While his former colleagues could not attend the tombstone unveiling, Mzilethi’s four children decided to continue from where he left off 14 years ago. The ceremony reminded people of the old Radio 2.
Fr Leonard Baa of the Roman Catholic Church Nkulumane 12 Parish led the unveiling.
The late Mzilethi’s sister, Mrs Sikhanyisiwe Mzilethi-Ndlovu, said he had shown an interest in radio from a young age, at Hauke Primary School in Nkosikazi and Luveve High School.
He used to imitate radio presenters of the time at home and at school, and would also write news about his community and read it to his siblings.
He joined radio as a young boy in 1973, after his father, who had retired from teaching due to a bus accident and joined the Civil Registry Department as a registrar in Bulawayo, passed away.
A friend of his father helped him secure a job at Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation as a presenter, and he worked there until after independence, in both Harare and Bulawayo.
When he retired from radio, he worked for Progressive Insurance.
Online Reporter