Noxolo Grootboom will vacate her seat at SABC after years of affirming her love for South Africans with the popular phrase, “ndinithanda nonke emakhaya.”
SABC confirms Noxolo Grootboom retirement
The news was confirmed by the state-owned vernacular broadcasting channel on social media. After more than two decades on the anchor’s seat, delivering news to a Xhosa audience in a soothing and reassuring tone, Grootboom will turn in her employee tag for good.
According to SABC Iindaba, the veteran anchor will lead the news cycle for the last time on Tuesday 30 March 2021, from 19:00.
Ungaphoswa SABC iindaba ku SABC1- Mzansi Fo Sho ngoLwesibini weveki ezayo ngentsimbi yesixhenxe, zizakufundwa ligqala…
Posted by SABC iindaba on Wednesday, 24 March 2021
South Africans who revere Grootboom’s contributions to journalism have been rallied to tune into the broadcast to bid the veteran anchor farewell in what should be an emotional segment for millions of her fans.
Grootboom’s rise to broadcasting majesty
Grootboom is an Eastern Cape native. She started out her career at SABC as a typist in the early 90s, an opportunity she’s always cherished for the opportunities it birthed.
“I never looked down on that. I told myself this was my only chance,” she told The Bar in a 2018 interview.
From there onwards, Grootboom climbed the broadcasting ladder at the state-owned news station, carving her own identity and voice in an industry that — at the time — did not welcome indigenous languages.
Some of the most unforgettable moments of her career came in 2013 when she officiated former president Nelson Mandela’s funeral on behalf of SABC.
A similar opportunity presented itself five years later when she was called in to present at the funeral of Winnie Madikizela.
Since then, she has come and gone as needed by the broadcaster. But, next week Tuesday, Grootboom — a lady of the 60s as she likes to say — will take her final bow in what we expect will be a spectacle.