THREE DECADES IN AND STILL RELEVANT...

As the country woke up to news of Bob Mabena’s passing on 10 August, a day after Women’s Day, I was just as shocked as everyone. Days later, when Mbali Soga commissioned me to do a cover feature on Melanie Bala, it was natural to ask how his death had affected her, as they were close friends for many years. Melanie and I meet for our interview on a cold Johannesburg morning — and I’m immediately taken by her grace, warmth, subtle command in her presence and sincerity as she speaks.

LOSING BOB

“It’s so strange to speak about someone who’s no longer around. And I have stayed away from doing interviews because it’s still so weird to talk about it. Bob and I started working together on the show Studio Mix in November 1993. We were both really young and lucky to work on a show with democracy still fresh in the country. As time went by, we connected on a personal level because of our enthusiasm for our buddying careers, and the fact that we loved having a good time. So, we shared everything with each other,” she says.

Melanie reminisces about some of the lessons she learned from Bob, describing him as a genuine person in an