You may recognize her dulcet tones as a news anchor on SAFM, and her face from SABC, but award-winning radio and television news anchor and journalist Nomsa Mdhluli is a successful business-woman and entrepreneur in her own right.
Nomsa’s career started as a Liaison Officer for the South African Police Service. She was a member of an elite police unit (which provided protection for national VIPs and foreign dignitaries) and was tasked with press liaison, program compilation and event coverage. High profile events she covered included the presidential inauguration of Thabo Mbeki in 2004 and The World Economic Forum of 2005. It was during this time that she realised that she thrived on communicating and interacting with others.
After a short stint as a Parliamentary Administrator for The National Union of Mine Workers/National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union in Cape Town she managed to break into radio in 2009 as a local News Presenter for Fine Music Radio. Shortly thereafter she managed to arrange informal training with Primedia (Cape Talk and EWN) where she gained invaluable additional insight into radio operations and news writing.
Nomsa started her media career in 2010, when she joined the Primedia Group (Cape Town) as a Radio News Anchor/Reporter/Producer for, at various stages, Cape Talk, KFM, Radio 702 and EWN. She transferred to Primedia’s Head Office in Johannesburg in 2014. She describes her time at Primedia as ‘one of opportunities’ where she substantially developed her presenting and production skills. The SABC heard Nomsa presenting the news on Radio 702. This led to her joining them in May 2015 as a News Anchor/Journalist. She presents national and international news and is constantly expanding on her presenting and reporting skills. Her performance was recognised in 2017, when she received Liberty Radio Awards’ prestigious Best PBS News Reader Award.
Nomsa’s compulsory internship in 2013 was spent at Cape Town based Public Relations firm where she was a member of a team that handled event co-ordination for The Cape Town International Jazz Festival and the launch of the Jonathan Butler Foundation. It was during this time that she gained hands-on press release, media relations, media coverage and event coordination experience. Her efforts were rewarded by her appointment as the Events PR director for the Cape Town International Jazz Festival from 2016 to 2018. She has since obtained her Honours degree in Media Studies and in June this year, was awarded a scholarship to pursue her Masters degree in Mass Media Studies with UK-based Liverpool John Moores University.
Three years ago, Nomsa started Tishala Communications to serve corporate clients who deserved to have their ground-breaking business ideas, innovations and successes brought to public and business attention. Currently she is very excited about promoting a number of key clients in the Technology Innovation, Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare sectors.
Tishala Communications’ list of achievements include a number of notable firsts for a young agency and clients have included the South African International Film Festival. Tishala has also also played an integral PR role in Africa’s first-ever Artificial Intelligence event, as well as being entrusted with the PR responsibilities around bringing the world’s largest gaming trade event to Africa.
The success of these accounts has seen Tishala becoming sought after among tech and event companies looking to convey their messaging to a larger audience.
