Brita relishes Capitalk adventure

By Andrew Moyo

“Having studied the arts, specialising in Graphic Design, I desire to build a successful career in the media industry focusing on television production.”

These were the words of the newly-crowned Miss Malaika, Brita Masalethulini, in 2001. Little did she know that it would take more than 15 years for her to start living her dream.

While she pictured herself working in television all those years ago, fate had other plans. And recently radio came calling. Going by the name Miss B, the former beauty queen is captaining two shows on the recently launched vibrant talk radio station, Capitalk 100.4 FM.

The lifestyle magazine shows — “Sunshine Saturday” and “Sunshine Sunday” — air between 6am and 9am, and they have presented Brita with a new adventure.

The shows take a refreshing look at the week’s trending topics; reflecting on legal, religious, cultural and leisure aspects among other things. From book readings to parental discussions, these slots are jam packed with exciting topics explored by Miss B and invited guests.

In an interview with The Sunday Mail Society last week, Masalethulini said, “This new experience has been exciting because I have always been on the other side of the mic being interviewed but now I am actually the one who is interviewing people so it’s quite interesting.

“When I was presented with the opportunity to come and join the radio station, I saw it as a welcome challenge so I did not hesitate to jump right in. I have been here since March so I have been discovering and learning a lot of things about radio and I am loving it so I think I am in it for the long run.” She said being at Capitalk was like discovering a family that she did not know existed.

“I am working with a good team, people who have the same drive, same ambition and we all want the same thing for the station, which is for it to be a major success.”

She went on: “As much as we love listening to music, you will realise that talk radio is a big deal considering that there are a lot of things that need to be discussed.

“It is important to be talking about issues that are happening not just in our communities but also around the world and to also have people participate.”

When she went to college all those years ago, Brita pictured herself doing animation. “My idea was to do computer graphics and then move on to animation, that Disney sort of thing, which is what I wanted to pursue as a career.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have any institutions that were offering animation programmes in the country at that time and modelling also came and took over so I ended up following a different path,” she said.

The former model, who has been lying low for a while, opened up on what had been occupying her.

“I have a business which specialises in making auto-cleaning products. I am an entrepreneur. Rather than work for someone else I just decided to start my own thing.

“There was a time when I worked for Pinnacle Holdings and this was an eye-opener for me because when I left I started my own business making protective wear, which kept me going for a while before I moved on to the chemicals industry.”

The single mum-of-three is an adventurous person who enjoys the outdoors. “I love cars so basically among my hobbies is motor sports especially the events that take place locally like drags, burnouts and other car shows.”

She encouraged people to follow Capitalk 100.4 FM for its informative and interesting discussions. Capitalk 100.4 FM is Harare’s premier talk radio station, telling and reflecting Zimbabwe’s story from the viewpoint of Harare residents.

Head of content Nyaradzo Makombe said that their vision was to be the most credible source of news, sports, business analysis and current affairs in Zimbabwe.

“Capitalk is Harare’s newest baby in the broadcasting industry and what we have brought with us that is different from other radio stations is that we are a talk radio station so what we are aiming to do is to lead the conversation about people in Harare first and obviously the country at large,” said Makombe.

“We have come for our serious listeners, information seekers and those people who also want their voices to be heard while discussing various issues that are affecting people especially in the capital.

“There is no conversation that we will not have and we are open to people’s opinions because we want to hear what they have to say, which is why our tagline is ‘leading the conversation’, which is what we are promising the people of Harare.” The Sunday Mail