Ryan Swano
Get ready for a dynamic new era on POWER98.7’s Breakfast Show as they welcome a fresh and inspiring new voice: Tessa Dooms, one of South Africa’s most vibrant social activists, who joins the station on the 3rd of March 2025.
Activist, Academic, Political Analyst, and co-author of the book Coloured: How Classification Became Culture, Tessa Dooms is a dynamic leader and an influential champion of democracy and human rights. Tessa also contiues to be a registered member of Bruinou.com since the mid-2000’s and is a Content Contributor on the current incarnation of our website.
“This is such an exciting time to be joining POWER98.7,” says Tessa Dooms said in a statement issued by POWER98.7.
“More and more people are speaking up about the pressing challenges facing our country, and we’re going to frame each day by creating a lively and engaging platform for their conversations. We’ll be kick-starting the morning in the most dynamic and informative way.”
Laying The Foundation
We had the privilege of speaking to Tessa about her evolution to becoming a radio presenter, asking her how and where her journey into radio broadcasting started.
“This will be my first time working as a radio presenter even though I have been involved with radio quite a long tie as an analyst. Two years ago I had a slot hosting a podcast on the Insight Show run by Crystal Ministries in Eldorado Park aimed mainly at communities like Eldos, Westbury, Florida etc. Also in the run-up to the 2024 elections I was at first a guest and later a guest host, hosting podcasts on my own, sharing ideas and doing interviews by myself on the SMWX Podcast. Though I haven’t done any commercial radio hosting before, the podcasting space was a really good preparation for radio.”
Tessa’s First Time Ever on Radio
“I remember the first time I ever spoke on radio was around 2010. I was a caller calling into a show hosted by the late Eusebius McKaiser. I was so excited to hear somebody on radio who was like me and he just made me feel like it is comfortable for people like me to call in and that representation mattered. ”
“So I started like that, as a caller, and then in 2014 I started regularly being an analyst on Radio and TV shows, and that is how I entered the broadcast media space, and this, my first time hosting, is also a reflection on Eusebius McKaiser.”
The Influence of Eusebius McKaiser
“Eusebius was a huge influence for me, both because he occupied space on the media landscape, in particular radio, and also because he reached out to me.”
“Eusebius reached to me to say to me my voice matters, and that I should be in these spaces, that I should be on radio, and he followed through by inviting me onto his shows many, many times. He really believed in my voice and he really believed in my platform.”
“So as the announcement was made I really missed Eusebius, I missed Eubie because he really knew that Coloured people deserved to have representation on platforms like talk radio in a serious way.”
With his on 30 May 2023, we noted in a Tribute Post to Eusebius McKaiser on Facebook that he was a Voice of Reason who was not affraid to forthrightly tackle difficult issues including the issue of his identity as a Coloured South African.
It is with his memory in mind, it is important to acknowledge that Tessa Dooms is the First Coloured Woman in SA to host a Breakfast Show on a Major Commercial Radio Station.
Landing The Power98.7 Breakfast Show Gig
What makes this a remarkable feat for Tessa is that she didn’t need to go through some protruded application or selection processed to be the New POWER Breakfast Host.
The powers-that-be at POWER98.7 simply saw her as a natural choice.
“Power98.7 were re-jigging there shows and redoing their lineup after the departure of Lerato Mbele”
“They were rethinking everything and asked around about who people think should be on radio, and we had a conversation.”
“I really don’t know why they thought I’d be a good fit, but really the conversations have been about unexpected voices, young voices, fresh voices and a more inclusive platform. That’s what drew me to this Opportunity.”
“It’s something that I haven’t really though hard about in terms of why this happened, but the approach came from Power98.7 and after considering it, I decided to go with it.”
WATCH Tessa Dooms – TEDx JohannesburgSalon – Is Democracy Broken? Time For a System Upgrade
What Does the Future Hold for Tessa?
We’ve always known Tessa to be a busy bee, wearing many different hats on any given day, and that one of her strongest attributes is that she is always able to find a balance and manage everything she tackles to an exceptionally high standard. So what does the future hold for Tessa Dooms now that she’ll be also be the one waking up everyone else in the morning?
“I will continue with my work as an activist. Radio is not a full day job, so I will continue my work with Rivonia Circle and in communities, and I will continue having a voice in the public. What this just means is that I will spend a lot more time investing in the radio and media space.”
“I also intend growing on social media platforms, especially having radio as a medium, I definitely want to expand my audience on places like TikTok particularly.”
“The social media space is starved of current affairs that is digestible and simple in a way that people can get information with which they can make up their own minds. I want to translate a lot of the work I do on Power98.7 onto platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Twitter ( X ) and really create different spaces to engage with different kinds of people.”
“If I can find the time then maybe I will continue to write and get a second book out.”
In our journey with Tessa Dooms that spans around two decades, we at Bruinou.com have no doubt that every step that Tessa takes and every move that she makes, she is destined to not only touch our lives in small ways but to change the world in much bigger ways.
We are immensely proud of having Tessa Dooms as a Member & Content Contributor on Bruinou.com and wish her well on this new journet as the POWER Breakfast Host.
Catch Tessa Dooms on Air Hosting POWER Breakfast
Tessa will host POWER Breakfast on POWER98.7 from 6am to 9am starting 3 March 2025, with veteran sports anchor and journalist Bareng-Batho Kortjaas aka BBK joining Tessa as sports presenter and show contributor on Power Breakfast, alongside traffic presenter and show contributor Lebohang Phokela.
POWER 98.7 is a South African radio station that broadcasts to Gauteng, Rustenburg, and parts of Limpopo. It broadcasts on 98.7 FM in Johannesburg, 103.6 FM in Soweto, 104.4 FM in Vaal, and 107.2 FM in Ekurhuleni. It’s also available on DSTV channel 889 and can be live streamed on power987.co.za/stream/ anywhere in the world.
