TABAKGOLO: THE MIDDAY DRUM THAT MAKES A NATION LISTEN
- Mpho Dube
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Dr Mashamaite And Oratile Kekana Turn Thobela FM Into Limpopo’s Biggest Kgotla
By Mpho Dube, Editor-in-Chief
The Azanian | Truth. Fearless. Unfiltered.
AZANIAFROCOMEDIA – The Catalyst of Impact
POLOKWANE – At 12 midday, Limpopo doesn’t pause. It gathers.
From Giyani to Ga-Molepo, from taxi ranks to boardrooms, radios turn up and phones go on speaker.
Because Tabakgolo on Thobela FM of SABC is on air. And when Tabakgolo speaks, over a million people lean in.
This is not just a provincial show anymore. Born in Limpopo, heard across the country. Thobela FM carries the voice of the North into living rooms in Joburg, Cape Town, and everywhere in between. And at the center of it are two forces reshaping midday radio: Dr Moloko Mashamaite, the media guru legend loved like an uncle by many and Oratile Kekana, the fearless producer-presenter bringing fresh wind into old sails.
Dr Mashamaite is the oak tree. Deep roots. Wide shade. He has walked newsrooms and lecture halls for decades. He doesn’t need to shout. When he speaks, the province settles. He takes complex policy, health crises, and political fights and breaks them into proverbs and plain truth.
Oratile is the river. Young, sharp, relentless. As producer she builds the show before sunrise. As host she asks what we’re all thinking but are afraid to say. She brings new topics, new voices, new energy. The issues of young entrepreneurs, TikTok politics, mental health, and township startups now sit beside land reform and service delivery.
He gives wisdom. She gives urgency. He is depth. She is drive. Together they are thunder and rain. And Limpopo grows from it.
Tabakgolo is where potent issues are not just mentioned. They are digested.
When it’s politics, political analysts are in studio. When it’s the economy, economists break it down.
Health? There are doctors. Education? There are principals and students. GBV? There are survivors, police, and psychologists. No topic walks in alone.
And the listeners don’t watch from the fence. They climb in.
“Tabakgolo ke seipone sa setšhaba,” says MmaKgoši from Mankweng. “Se se robegilego re se bea fa gore se lokišwe. Dr o a hlalosa, Oratile ga a tlogele go latela karabo.”
“I’m a taxi driver. 12PM ke ema,” says Tebogo from Polokwane. “Ge Oratile a gata MEC ka dipotšišo, ke ikwa ke le nna ke le mo studio.”
“It feels like sitting with your smartest uncle and your bravest sister,” says Lerato, a teacher in Sekhukhune. “O tšwa o na le tsebo le sebete sa go dira ka yona.”
This is why Thobela FM remains intact and vibrant. Because shows like Tabakgolo speak truth to power and still make space for the people. It’s not noise. It’s a drum. Steady. Calling a nation to gather, to argue, to heal, and to build.
With a media guru who carries the history, and a producer who carries the future, Tabakgolo has become more than appointment listening. It’s appointment living.
12PM. Monday to Friday. Thobela FM.
Over a million listeners. One microphone. Two voices.
A legend and a producer.
This is Limpopo talking. And South Africa is listening.
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