In her first year of university Gugulethu Mhlungu joined her campus radio station, Rhodes Music Radio, as a producer and newsreader. When the station manager asked about her future plans, she told him she wanted his job.
At the age of 19, Mhlungu became the station manager of Rhodes Music Radio, the youngest in South African broadcast history, all while studying full-time towards a BA in journalism and media studies and then a postgraduate diploma in media management.
As a student, Mhlungu was also part of the Cape Community Radio Forum and served on the board of the Eastern Cape Communications Forum. She continued her radio career in Cape Town, where she was a station producer for Primedia Broadcasting.
Mhlungu was working for Design Capital Cape Town in 2014 when she was headhunted to join City Press as a trainee lifestyle editor. She now edits #Trending, the newspaper’s lifestyle and entertainment section, and pens columns and features.
Last year Mhlungu returned to the airwaves to co-host Night Talk with Sizwe Dhlomo, a show on Talk Radio 702 and Cape Talk. She balances her two jobs with writing her book, a yet unnamed collection of essays on the idea of South Africa as a rainbow nation.
Twitter: @GugsM
