"I interviewed President Jacob Zuma last week," said former Grahamstonian, Nontyatyambo Petros. "I enjoy getting to meet and challenge important people as part of my job."
"I interviewed President Jacob Zuma last week," said former Grahamstonian, Nontyatyambo Petros. "I enjoy getting to meet and challenge important people as part of my job."
Petros was in Grahamstown last week, speaking to journalism students at a careers fair about her journey from growing up in Grahamstown to holding a top position at the Business Report, a national newspaper based in Johannesburg. This was part of the JMS Future Indaba Careers Fair which takes place annually at Rhodes University.
"I schooled at Mary Waters and did a BA at Rhodes," said Petros, who is known as Ntyatyi to her friends.
In 2004 she became editor of Grocott’s Mail and was one of the first woman editors of a newspaper in South Africa. She held the post for two years, which she describes as the most challenging time of her life. "Grocott’s had almost no computers at the time and a lot of things were so archaic," she said, "but we still went on to win a couple of awards."
She then held various positions at different publications before being appointed deputy editor at the Business Report, a national business publication published in The Star, Cape Times, The Mercury and Pretoria News.
Speaking about the challenges of economics journalism, she said "We live in a society [where]a lot of people are afraid of maths, and as journalists we often don’t help demystify things. Inflation is not only about the Reserve Bank, it effects everyone," she added, urging future journalists to help people understand how the economy affects them. "But it is not an easy thing to do."
Speaking about her interview with Zuma, she said, "He is like the guy next door and has no airs or graces about himself. But as the president, he needs to take strong stances on certain issues."
How does a woman from Grahamstown get to ask the president tough questions? "If I can do it, anybody can," Petros said.
Petros has the habit of calling her mother, who lives in Grahamstown, three times a day. "It’s very expensive but I am close to my mother and I am missing home. Jo’burg is the place to go and build a career, but Grahamstown is home," she added. She said that she definitely has plans to come back to Grahamstown at some stage, but she wasn’t willing to divulge those plans just yet.
