Riaan steals the limelight

Time to confess my dirty little secret. The first time I ever thought about newsreaders and the ties they wore, it wasn´t Mahendra who was the man in question. It was Riaan. Riaan Cruywagen. I spotted a newspaper article about Riaan´s choice of tie - he had inadvertently (?) worn one in ANC colours. I don´t recall if this happened pre- or post-1994, but it was around that time. Dear Mahendra rarely faces this problem: pink, purple and peachy tones aren´t generally political colours. Unless he´s trying to tell us something about his sexuality?

Anyway, back to Riaan. I was presently surprised to find a documentary about him, Don´t Shoot showing at Encounters. I liked the way the filmmaker tied his newsreading career to the transition in South Africa, although some of Mnr Cruywagen´s responses to questions were a little too slick. ("I don´t write the news, I read it".)

But I am alarmed to find that die Cruywagen seems to be maintaining his popularity over our friend Mahendra. His fan club even suggest that: "Riaan Cruywagen knows the news before it happens". Whatever. If he does, that is hardly professional - and he claimed in the doccie that professionalism is his byword.

We all know Mahendra is a consummate professional - after all, maintaining his appearance and selecting just the right tie is way more important than any content he actually has to read. What do you guys say to a doccie on Mahendra at next year´s Encounters? We have a filmmaker, a scriptwriter and a PR whore in the house after all. Let´s do it!

Please note: Don´t Shoot shows as part of the Why Democracy? series at Encounters. You can still catch a glimpse of Riaan in Jozi this Saturday at 2.45 or in the Mother City in July. Don´t Shoot shows with Iron Ladies of Liberia - a wonderful doccie about Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. If only all heads of state were female Mahendra might be reading a very different news each night!