Well-known South African radio and media personality Dineo Ranaka has opened up about her bad experiences with radio.
During her interview on BET Africa’s Behind The Story with Nomalanga, Shozi, the former Kaya FM presenter said the main reason for her mental illness was radio.
“Radio makes me physically sick,” Ranaka said.
“5FM I fell sick, YFM I fell sick, Metro FM I went to initiation school, Kaya FM I got depression. Radio makes me sick.”
The mother-of-three also revealed that radio is not her first love, as television production is what she loves more.
“Radio is not even in the list of my top 10 things to do. [I do it] because I’m good at it and it pays my bills.”
Ranaka said the people, politics and construct of radio is what makes her physically sick. She explained that while she can handle turbulence, there is a certain type of abuse that her body cannot handle.
“It’s a very abusive industry on the back end,” said Ranaka.
In July last year, Kaya FM fired Ranaka. This came after she took time off work as she was struggling with her mental health and battling suicide thoughts.
According to Sunday World at the time, an internal memo sent to its employees communicated that the Gauteng-based commercial radio station had tried everything they could to accommodate the reality TV star. This included facilitating her admission to a mental institution where she reportedly discharged herself a few days later.
Kaya FM also revealed that the DJ did not communicate her medical issues with them, instead she reportedly went AWOL (absent without leave) and her employers found out about her challenges on social media.
According to the acting managing director, Collen Louw, they tried to communicate with Ranaka to find out how she was doing, but their attempts failed. He added that they wish to help Ranaka and work with her again.
“Kaya 959 is prepared to continue supporting Ranaka’s mental wellness journey and we hope that she will be open to discussing possible mutually beneficial opportunities in future,” he said.
After she and the station parted ways, Ranaka revealed that she has been living with temporal lobe epilepsy since her mid-twenties. She also disclosed that she was diagnosed with severe chronic depression this year.
As per Health Line, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy is one of 20 different kinds of epilepsy and is the most common. Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes changes in brain cell activity that result in seizures, periods of unusual behavior or feelings, and in some cases a loss of consciousness.
People with this condition experience feelings of déjà-vu (familiarity) or some stomach upset – The Epilepsy Foundation said. These may be coupled with feelings of fear, panic, anxiety, a rising sensation coming from the stomach to the chest or throat, or butterflies with nausea are other common auras. Some people may sense an unusual smell.