long. I was in my teens and he was 23; we were young and all the public attention also put a strain on us. But we remain good friends today and he is a wonderful father to our daughter,” she smiles. In the early nineties, the time came for Maureen to take her career beyond borders with a move to BOP TV in the former Bophutatswana in South Africa. After a very short stint at the station, she headed to the University of Wales to pursue a Masters Degree in Journalism. Afterwards she travelled around Europe, doing freelance work for Radio Netherlands International and later lecturing part time at the Danish School of Journalism. “On completing my studies I joined the public relations department at MNET and did some field reporting for Carte Blanche. In
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1997 I joined the SABC where I used to read the 5p.m. news and later became quite involved in covering stories on the rest of the African continent.” While in Zambia and at BOP, Maureen had won various journalism awards and her fearless reporting at the SABC attracted more praise and recognition. The BBC Africa Service noticed her work and offered her a position as presenter and producer of the flagship Focus on Africa programme. She returned to South Africa in 2007, citing fatigue from the western lifestyle. “I felt that I had a greater role to play on my continent by being here and not in London.” Maureen returned to the SABC,