A giant in radio goes quiet

With a rich radio legacy behind him, Bob Mabena might have been forgiven for being big-headed and a braggart, but he wasn’t at all. Although he cut his teeth as a nightclub deejay in his township of Atteridgeville, Tshwane, his real ambition was always the bigger platform of radio. After leaving high school, he packed a suitcase with clothing and dreams, and set out to try his luck at Radio Bop in what was then Bophuthatswana.

At that time, the station – which fashioned itself as having a mind of its own – served as an incubator