There aren’t many black African women who report on business and finances, which makes Tumisang distinctive. She credits her perseverance, eagerness to study, and quest for the truth for her success. She began her career as a general news reporter before discovering her affinity for finance. Her path has been intriguing.
“Fortunately I was working with black women who had been well-versed and had an interest in finance and business news. If those individuals were not working on my shift it meant I wouldn’t have a story on the market, the Rand and even what emerging markets are doing.
“That’s when the interest kicked in. I am not going to wait for a certain individual to work for my bulletin for it to have a business element. I had to do it myself.
“I started in the Newsroom learning from colleagues, subsequently I did the Sanlam Business School training. The bug really hit there and once politics started to die down, it became apparent that young black women are needed in this space of telling the financial side of the news.
“But also not to dumb the it down but speak in a manner that your grandmother would even understand or a primary school-going child would understand what you are saying,” she says.
Tumisang pulls no punches about politics and asserts that it is crucial to discuss how money influences politics.
“That is the bigger scheme of things because if you look at the current economic landscape, South Africa was present at the World Economic Forum but we don’t have electricity.
“The question for most South Africans is why are we part of these global bodies when we can’t fix domestic issues. If we are going to the likes of the World Bank to look for money, the question is why are we asking for money and how much are we asking for in terms of the debt repayment?
“Another big talking point in business for South Africans is how you self- fund in the SMME sector. How you started from the ground up without support and the support finds you on that journey.
“SMME are meant to be creating jobs and helping relieve the unemployment surge that we have. But we are not seeing that happening because most businesses fail within the first two years.
“They can’t sustain themselves, they can’t go to market, they can’t get their products out there to advertise. An opportunity like (YOU FM) this will be a way to bring business onto the platform”.
Tumisang emphasised the value of choosing truth and passion over popularity when asked what advise she would provide to young women who want to work in financial journalism she said: “I would definitely say don’t go into the popular side of Journalism. We are not commentators. We are information disseminators so you can never be bigger than the story. If you find a niche and it is something that you are passionate about you are going to report on in a way that it is going to relate with the next person.
“You also need a very thick skin because every single day is a work cycle. You may be driving home from work and you stop on the side of the road. You start reporting and you call the newsroom to say guys this is what’s happening.
“So your time doesn’t belong to yourself and dealing with a lot of people who are not the same and have different backgrounds. Being humble is the trick, greet and be kind. That’s how you get the story.”
Thabo Muridili, the station manager for YOU FM, welcomed the new YOU Business host and noted that Tumisang would be taking over a program that was essential to the brand’s offering. “We are delighted to have Tumisang join our line-up of passionate and talented presenters. Her contribution will certainly help propel our vibrant station to greater heights,” he said.
