Reporting without fear or favour At age 35, Shahan Ramkissoon has become the most riveting and hard-hitting South African news anchor to watch on eNCA from 3-5pm.
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f you have watched any of his latest news reports during his 16-year stint, you would have seen him increasingly ask squirm-worthy questions and boldly not backing down. Unsurprisingly, this no-nonsense approach has labelled him disrespectful and belittling by politicians. “I will not apologise for simply doing my job and holding politicians accountable,” he fired back. “The time for being nice or accepting about unnecessary deaths and looting is over.” Ramkissoon’s career motto is:“Be honest about what you see, get out of the way and let the story reveal itself” – Anderson Cooper. “I truly believe that’s a solid approach to how stories should be covered on the ground. But I’ll also never get out of the way when someone dodgy is involved. I will challenge them.” He believes that he has a responsibility as a journalist to make sure that our constitutional democracy is not made a mockery of by those in power. “I’ve been called anti-ANC, anti-DA, anti-EFF, anti-ACDP, but that shows that I challenge everyone, regardless of the political party they represent. Independence is what I strive for.” His typical day involves voracious online reading about everything that’s happening in South Africa and around the world. He’s in constant contact with production teams about the show's agenda and how they cover stories – it’s a never-ending cycle of TV news in order to always be prepared, especially when dealing with dodgy politicians and business people. “The pressures of the studio are immense too. There are loads of things to remember and instructions to make the show look good.
Shahan Ramkissoon DUT Journalism graduate DUTConnect // 14
This on top of real journalism and broadcasting live to thousands of people. There’s little room for error but I enjoy the adrenaline!” laughed Ramkissoon. This desire to question authority and speak up for the voiceless was birthed early on in Chatsworth when he began writing for the Young Daily News at age 14. “I felt that I needed to expose my school for withholding report cards of students who couldn’t afford their fees, so I wrote about it in the provincial newspaper.”
