Veteran news reader is now Dr. Noxolo Grootboom
By Edward Tsumele, CITYLIFE/ARTS Editor
Retired SABC news reader Noxolo Grootboom was yesterday, Monday April 25, 2022 honoured by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University by being conferred an honorary doctorate.
The honor is in recognition of Grootboom’s news reading articulation in isiXhosa for SABC TV for decades, having only retired last year after being a news reader for 37 years. Her flawless reading style in isiXhosa left many in awe of her over the years. And when she retired last year, the public broadcaster rightly made a big issue of the event. President Cyril Ramaphosa even delayed his regular Coronavirus address to the nation by one hour to allow her to be first honoured on air before he addressed the nation. The president before he addressed the nation publicly congratulated her for her broadcasting feat.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) congratulates legendary television news broadcaster Ms. Noxolo Grootboom, who will today (Monday 25 April), be awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the Nelson Mandela University,” said the SABC in a statement released yesterday ahead of the graduation ceremony.
According to the university “the honorary doctorate is awarded in recognition of her invaluable work and contribution to journalism, media and communication, as well as her upliftment of the linguistic heritage of South Africa”.
Ms. Deidre Uren, Acting Group Executive: News and Current Affairs, stated “this is yet another accolade which celebrates her contribution and role in delivering news to the South African public, through the isiXhosa news on SABC 1. In her 37 years at the public broadcaster, Ms. Grootboom was known for her work ethic, commitment to her job, as well as the development and use of isiXhosa as a language within the context of news story telling”.
Ms. Grootboom has left a legacy within the SABC’s newsroom in terms of the people she mentored and inspired and the high standard she set in delivering news.