Ruvheneko-ZiFM romance had long died
By Silence Charumbira
Showbiz Editor
Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa, former programs manager at ZiFM Stereo is hurt. While she may not necessarily be bitter; that her baby, The Platform had to be taken away from her left her gutted to say the least.
The vivacious young lady who is also daughter of Health Minister David Parirenyatwa oddly finds herself in an unfamiliar position where she has to accept her circumstances and move on.
Her father being a fellow minister in the same cabinet with Supa Mandiwanzira, her boss, it is normal for anyone to expect everything to be rosy. Yet not.
There have been a lot of fighting within the corridors at the organisation.
Ruvheneko opened up to Showbiz at the weekend and said although she has been in a managerial position since January, that she has been off air since May means the station was no longer her home.
She said the situation at ZiFM had become like she was at “work” yet before that all she had been doing is what she loved as more of a shareholder.
“I am leaving ZiFM because it’s time to move on. As you know, I haven’t been on air since May.
Although I’ve been Programming Manager since January, ZiFM Stereo is no longer my “home”. So I am leaving because I don’t work – I hate work; I do what I love and I love what I do. Once that equation changes and what I do feels like a “job” then it means we’ve lost each other. I work from the heart – I own what I’m doing like a shareholder as opposed to an employee,” she said.
While the public judge had ruled the Tafadzwa Musarara issue was the reason for her departure and falling out of favour, she said that had been dealt with although the Zanu PF apologist was suing her for a staggering $200 000.
She however said her fight with the employers started in 2015 and had escalated over time.
“The bone of contention between myself and ZiFM Stereo started last year and has really been spiraling to where we are today. Publicly, I’m no longer on air since they took The Platform away from me which was my heartbeat for a long time. So with that gone, a position in management was great but it didn’t fulfill me. I’m a media personality and with that microphone gone, I was losing myself,” she said.
“So the move to TV was discussed and it happened, which was great! However, the day-to-day working environment at AB Communications was no longer suited for me for reasons I don’t need to disclose because they are none of my business anymore.”
To prove that the honeymoon was over at the radio station, ZiFM management reportedly dumped the Musarara suit on Ruvheneko and left her to handle it.
“Musarara has sued me for defamation for $200K. Summons from the High Court came. It’s a case underway so I would rather not discuss it at this stage. However, the organisation has given themselves nothing to do with it; they distanced themselves from it so it’s directly between Musarara and I,” she said.
While Ruvheneko was a darling on radio, some felt she was too aggressive whenever she had limited understanding for a given subject and often pushed the guest too hard.
But the radio and TV personality said those were just people’s opinions that she did not have to respond to.
“I don’t have to have an opinion about every opinion about me. I’d go crazy. What I do know for a fact is this: if I was a man doing what I do I wouldn’t be called “aggressive” so this question is difficult to answer in a society that would rather attack my knowledge on a subject in a couple of interviews than see that my style of questioning is not unique if placed on a global stage. I push for answers because when you come to a talk show as a guest, expect questions because we expect answers. Otherwise why are we here?” she said.
There have also been reports of heavy handedness to subordinates since her appointment to a managerial position but Ruvheneko simply said: “I’ve nothing to say to that besides: that’s interesting”.
She said although she owed a lot to AB Communications she was ready for the next chapter of her life.
