Reporting without Fear or Favour – Shahan Ramkissoon

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.

If 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 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.”

“No story is beneath you. Every story has a heart – tell it, and tell it with passion. Every interview is a lesson; don’t ever forget that. The basics won’t get you far, so keep pushing boundaries and evolving as a human being and then as a journalist.”

This led to the Education Department acting against school officials and that’s when he realised the power of journalism. “Since then, I’ve been motivated to bring about change through the stories I tell.”

Ramkissoon, who has a brother and two sisters, subsequently home-schooled, skipped Grade 11 and matriculated at the age of 16. At 17 years old, he had his parents’ full backing to study Journalism at DUT. “Overall, I appreciated the hands-on approach and real-life scenarios that were used during lectures. Tara Turkington, Kubi Rama, Jude Mathurine and Mikhail Peppas were all incredible at teaching us skills that I use all these years later. DUT was serious when necessary and also fun.”

He continued writing for the Daily News in his first year. “I would go to their Greyville offices after lectures every weekday to try to get stories in the newspaper,” he said. “In second year, I started working weekends at SABC Radio through our lecturer Fawzia Moodley, and that eventually led to an internship. So DUT really did open doors for me.”

Amazingly, this heartthrob metro man is still single and not a father yet. “Work consumes most of my life because hope that one day I can go abroad again to further my career. As for balance, I do try to relax and have fun on weekends to de-stress.”

CAREER HISTORY

Freelance Correspondent, eNCA – past seven years, Johannesburg Anchor and Correspondent, Arise News – 2014-2016, New York

Correspondent, Arise TV – 2013-2014, Johannesburg TV Journalist, eNews Channel Africa, 2007-2013, Johannesburg Radio News Anchor and TV Reporter, SABC News, 2005-2007, Durban

Sporting multiple, unashamed Christian tattoos, Ramkissoon stays trim with Crossfit, and loves to dance, judging by his tongue-in-cheek TikTok videos. “I love music, especially South African tunes. It’s mostly what I do when I get a chance to break away and relax. You’ll find I love what I do. I keep trying to grow as a journalist and

Busiswa, Mafikizolo, Kabza, Prince Kaybee, among others, on my play list.”

Ramkissoon supports the Sunflower Fund through an ambassador programme, because “I do honestly believe that we should all try to help save a life when we can.”

@ShahanR Shahan Ramkissoon Bookings: shahanr@gmail.com