Wilné van Rooyen has the same tagline for both of the radio stations she works at: Be kind, and stay weird. She has been a familiar voice on MFM, the Stellenbosch University campus radio station, for six years, and recently joined the Helderberg FM community radio station as breakfast presenter. Van Rooyen spoke to Lienke Norval from SMF News about building a life in radio and learning to embrace her individuality.
Wilné van Rooyen is a presenter at Helderberg FM and MFM, where she also trains new team members. “I met Wil for training first,” says Sibulele Ndudula, Van Rooyen’s colleague and friend at MFM. “I used to listen to her on [MFM] and then it was her who was training me for almost everything here.” PHOTO: Lienke Norval
“I’m always on time for radio. No matter what,” says Van Rooyen. “Everything else? Forget about it.”
On a typical morning, Van Rooyen wakes up in her Stellenbosch flat at 04:30 in order to make it in time for the Helderberg FM breakfast show. After extended negotiations with the snooze button, she takes some time to sit with a cup of coffee, and then faces the day head-on.
Her 30-minute drive to Somerset West is accompanied by a carefully curated playlist, or a podcast called Morning Cup of Murder.
From 06:00 to 09:00, she presents HFM Breakfast with a script she prepared the night before. The show includes music, weather, news, and, crucially, good news – anything to get the Somerset West commuters through morning traffic.
“At ten past, it’s news headlines and your good news, because we need some good news in this world,” says Van Rooyen.
After Helderberg FM, she prepares for her afternoon drive show at MFM, where she has been working since 2018. In order to keep the Stellenbosch news as fresh as possible, Van Rooyen is still updating her script and compiling headlines right up until the moment she goes on air at 15:00.
“I over-prepare. I like to have my intro link, my outro link, what I say in between,” says Van Rooyen. “I have ADHD [Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder] and it’s, honestly… it’s a pain in my ass. But that aside, I’m going to be over-prepared in any case.”
“I’m always making sure that there’s a backup plan,” she says. “Always.”
Navigating working at two radio stations requires Wilné van Rooyen to always be preparing for the next show. By preparing links, mixing sound clips, or writing scripts, she is always ready for radio. PHOTO: Lienke Norval
Van Rooyen presents the first hour of the drive show by herself, and is then joined by her colleague, Zeeko Alexander, for a two-hour segment called Lift Club.
After three hours on air at MFM, Van Rooyen is spent. Once home, she unwinds with a video game and her boyfriend’s cooking. He works from home, and if not for his continued support, Van Rooyen would probably not be doing this. Before going to bed, she prepares for the next morning’s Helderberg FM breakfast show.
Small-town world
Van Rooyen grew up in Oranjemund, a small mining town in the far southwest of Namibia, where her fascination with news and media manifested early on.
She remembers secretly listening to the radio after bedtime, taking newspapers from coffee shops, and watching Riaan Cruywagen’s nightly news bulletins on the South African Broadcasting Company (SABC) channels.
“Riaan Cruywagen was the man who got me into all of this. I wanted to become a newsreader,” she says. “I loved reading. I [knew I wanted] to become a journalist, but specifically broadcast news.”
Van Rooyen left Oranjemund after primary school, securing a spot at La Rochelle Girls’ High School in Paarl just before the school year started.
Despite the growing pains of adapting to a new country, she remembers most of her high school years fondly. She started experimenting with emo culture, anarchism, and feminism, and was “the weird kid, not your typical girl”. But she managed to find like-minded friends.
After graduating high school in 2015, Van Rooyen studied BA (Humanities) at Stellenbosch University (SU), and started working at MFM in the final year of her undergraduate degree. In 2020, she was accepted into the BAHons (Journalism) programme at SU.
“We were ready, man,” she says. “The first three months were hectic, but we did it. And then Covid started.”
Just like that, Van Rooyen found herself back in Oranjemund. Continuing with her honours degree meant reporting on Stellenbosch news from 800 kilometres away, which proved a singular challenge.
Trying to avoid international telephone bills, navigating travel restrictions, and isolation were the order of the day, but Van Rooyen insists that she would do it all over again – even during a pandemic.
Making a name at MFM
Van Rooyen had to pause her work at MFM while she was back in Namibia during Covid, but picked up where she left off after completing her honours degree. She carved out a niche for herself as presenter of the afternoon drive show.
Van Rooyen is a naturally curious person. This is a quality that reflects in her shows. From rockstars, to a 70-year-old first-time business owner, to a former gangster – if you have a story to tell, Van Rooyen will interview you.
About her 2021 interview with Yungblud, a British rock musician, she says: “He made a comment saying Mandela [was] a true punk. Punk, as in, being a rebel and fighting for the rights of other people. That was such a nice conversation, to listen to an artist that you look up to that makes you feel seen.”
MFM, the Stellenbosch University (SU) campus radio station, has made a name for itself in SU history. Following in the footsteps of the presenters before her, Wilné van Rooyen has been nominated at the Telkom Radio Awards in 2022, 2023, and 2024. PHOTO: Lienke Norval
“I met Wil for training first,” says Sibulele Ndudula, Van Rooyen’s colleague and friend, who joined MFM in 2022 and now hosts the Breakfast Club and lunch show. “I used to listen to her on [MFM] and then it was her who was training me for almost everything here.”
“She’s a weird sister, but she is cool,” he says. “She’s herself.”
Van Rooyen often pushes for topics she is passionate about to be featured in her shows, according to Ndudula. She has made a tradition of covering the annual Cape Town Comic-Con, a pop culture-centred convention, which she has attended on behalf of MFM for three years.
This year, Wilné van Rooyen attended Comic-Con dressed as the robber from The Sims, one of her all-time favourite video game characters. PHOTO: Supplied/Wilné van Rooyen
“I’ve always been called weird and always [felt] different. I don’t want other people to feel the same. I want them to know it’s okay,” she says. “You can have your weird sub-culture fascination. If you are completely and utterly obsessed with the supernatural, it’s okay. That’s my main point in doing these things.”
New in town
Van Rooyen joined Helderberg FM in January this year, where she started presenting the breakfast show immediately after training. Any radio station’s biggest shows are early in the mornings and in the late afternoons, when listeners are commuting.
“I literally just started and I was given the breakfast show, which doesn’t happen. That is rare,” she says. “I was shocked, but I was like: Okay, cool. This is it. They needed somebody [and] obviously I have experience in radio.”
Wilné van Rooyen’s varied interests and curiosities are not only reflected in her shows, but also in the accessories that she carries with her. K-pop lanyards and lightsaber keychains are only some of the trinkets she keeps on her person. PHOTO: Lienke Norval
“The community has responded so well to her taking over the show,” says Jan-Willem Lotz, who met Van Rooyen six years ago at MFM and now works with her at Helderberg FM. “When she started working here, I could still see that she is the professional and experienced broadcaster that I got to know at MFM, but also with more confidence and skill.”
Compared to campus radio, the Helderberg FM audience is more interactive, often calling in with advice or opinions. Van Rooyen recalls complaining about a bad haircut on air one morning, and subsequently receiving multiple messages of motivation from listeners.
“You know that whole African thing of Ubuntu? This is what it’s all about,” she says. “I want to do it for all of them, for the people. Make their day, have a conversation with them, because everybody has something to say.”
Wilné van Rooyen closes her shows at both MFM and Helderberg FM with the tagline: Be kind, and stay weird. By embracing her own weirdness, she hopes to help listeners do the same. AUDIO: Lienke Norval
Note: As of publication, Van Rooyen has moved to hosting the weekday Lunch Club show on MFM.