Shahan Ramkissoon
Image: Facebook
THE curtain came down on eNCA's flagship show, the 'Last Word' on Thursday night as its popular presenter Shahan Ramkissoon bid farewell to his large TV audience. Our Thursday nights will be never be the same again as we will no more see the charismatic television presenter and media personality sitting confidently on his purple chair and fearlessly firing questions at his bewildered guest.
No mincing of words, no sugar coating, no dodging and no mediocrity - he went straight for the jugular and exposed his victim's big, fat underbelly.
In one show he grilled ANC spokesman Mahlengi Bhengu- Motsiri when he asked him candidly when his party was going to address its governance failures and fire its inefficient and corrupt officials.
In another show he asked a Tshwane mayor with a straight face, 'Do you think you deserve your salary? '
Always impeccably dressed with his tailor- made suit, stylish wolf-cut hairstyle and perfectly sculpted beard, Ramkissoon could easily be passed off as just another rich playboy out to impress his audience with his looks.
But beneath the persona lies a serious mind who was on a mission to put the country back on the right track and make it a better place for its citizens. For this he was much admired in the country, even by those who faced his grilling.
Ramkissoon was not just an ordinary television presenter but a master of infotainment. He could mix serious life issues with laughter and humoir.
He is currently studying for his MBA and his focus is shifting to the business world. But he says his television journey is not ending, it's merely taking a pause. We are surely going to miss him.
Let us hope he does not follow Trevor Noah to the US. We need fearless journalists like him in our country.
THYAGARAJ MARKANDAN
Kloof