for the 9 am to 12 pm slot which I handled up to 1999 when I returned to Johannesburg as a presenter at Metro FM.” Metro was a different kettle of fish from Radio BOP, as is her current role at Radio 2000 where she is the mid-morning maestra. While BOP was a regional station, Metro is a national commercial radio station with all the glitz that attracts a popular listenership. Radio 2000 has a public serving mandate and has a more informative slant that is appealing to a mature audience. I suggested that her profile speaks of versatility.
“Entrepreneurship taught me a lot. I have new found respect for people who go out there and start their own businesses. It takes a lot of tenacity and it has taught me to be a fixer and not a whiner. All employees out there should be grateful and not take for granted that someone sweated to set up the system from which they earn a living.”
“Fortunately the incident did not erupt and I did not get fired,” she said gratefully. “Another incident that stands out as a major bleep was when I was an MC at an event in Potchefstroom. As I stepped out to introduce former President Thabo Mbeki, my sleeve gave way and I flashed the hundreds of people who were in the audience. I remember Mbeki was the perfect gentleman; he helped me fix my top and gave me a fatherly hug which gave me the strength to carry on with the evening like it had not happened.”
“This was the opportunity to watch a true professional in action. It takes considerable poise to As grateful as she is be able to be interviewed for having dealt with those blunders, Bertha is grateful “Well they all happened by a magazine while for everyday life. Indeed her show on Radio 2000 at different times in my life and can be said to have cuing music, taking calls, is called ‘Life with Bertha’. Her personal philosophy is been reflective of the phase I was in at the time,” she shifting numerous dials, best summarised by the way she describes herself on the responded. making occasional on-air station website: Other than radio, Bertha “If I had to define has also graced the small remarks and going back myself in 30 seconds I would screen. Her time on TV life is consistent, the sun includes being the centre and forth with a producer say rises in the morning and it piece of Africa Within, a it’s what you do with show on SABC 3 showcasing in an adjacent room....” sets, your life that defines it. I the lifestyles of well-to-do Africans and reading the news on E-TV’s mobile service. She has also ventured into the entrepreneurial space; when she left Metro in 2005, she set up Lib and Rose Consulting, a media company that focused on bringing ideas to life through events and other avenues which also has real estate interests in SA and Zimbabwe.
Other than facing the challenges that come with starting a business, her work in entertainment has also included a few times when she wished the ground would open up and swallow her. She was once caught on air talking ill of a very prominent personality while at Metro FM.
truly believe this and live my life this way. I wake up looking forward to what I have in-store for myself and that’s it! You determine what your life becomes. This is what I stand for and I express it every day when I am on-air. I love a state of mind that is passionate about living to the fullest; that is what I prescribe to.’” - KC ROTTOK