John Robbie
When John Robbie hung up his headphones and signed off for the last time at Talk Radio 702 in December 2016, it signaled the end of a legendary career spanning some 30 years within the station. His career path included hosting “Talk at Ten”, which then went on to become “Talk at Nine”, mid-morning, afternoon drive, co-hosting Breakfast with Dan Moyane for a few years, then mid-morning again and then back onto Breakfast which he hosted from October 2002 to December 2016.
John came to South Africa on a rugby tour with the British Lions in 1980 and returned with Ireland in 1981 which led to his being dismissed from his job at the Guiness brewery in Dublin. Following this tour, he and his wife Jennie, decided to stay on in South Africa, with John playing rugby for what was then called Transvaal. John never played for the Springboks – although he sat on the bench for the ‘boks four times. It speaks volumes for his strong principles that he never wears a Springbok rugby jersey as he feels that as a former rugby player who never played for the Springboks, he is not entitled to wear one.
John then took up a job in Johannesburg as a pump salesperson, selling large pumps to the mines and heavy industry, whilst continuing his rugby career. In 1987, he was one of five SA rugby players of the year. He also won the SA Superstars competition in 1988. During this time, he became a 702 listener, listening to John Berks in the morning and Chris Gibbons’ midday report. He became a regular caller to Berks’ show and Berks suggested to management that they get John Robbie to read the sport on the Breakfast show.
702 then gave John a weekly sports show on a Saturday afternoon and his big break came when he stood in for David Blood on Talk at Ten, in the week that FW de Klerk made his famous 2nd February 1990 opening of Parliament speech unbanning political organisations and announcing his intention to release political prisoners. This led to John being permanently appointed as the host of the show and set up John’s radio future.
A competitive sportsman by nature, John brought his competitive streak to radio and pioneered the type of talk that is synonymous with 702. His forthright manner attracted calls from a very broad range of people, all from vastly different backgrounds engaging with one another via the medium of radio. John was instrumental in promoting dialogue and opening debates on many difficult issues – at a time that the country was emerging from its apartheid past. He held those in power to account and his forthright manner meant that he was always trying to find out “why the lying bastards are lying”.
This approach won John a lot of respect, but from his own perspective, he sought solutions and pioneered solution-driven radio. He was not content with only providing criticism and condemnation; he had this drive to move the country forward, of making things better and of making SA a better place to live. Out of every situation, every tragedy and every drama, John would ask the question “What can we learn from this?” and then attempt to infuse this into the discourse, so that society would keep moving forward. This spirit, drive and energy, this will to make a difference, was one of the key drivers of Lead SA.
John’s professionalism is legend in the industry. He was always fully-engaged in his work, arriving at the studio promptly at 03:00 every day in order to prepare for his show. His approach to his show was single-minded and he not only extracted the best work from the team working on his show, he set an example, and a benchmark for all his colleagues and for his successors in the industry. John has won many awards for his work, twice winning the SA Breweries Sports Journalist of the Year for Radio and Television.
John Robbie’s radio career has enriched the radio industry and, in fact, the entire country and it is only fitting that he is acknowledged by the industry through being honoured as the Radio Awards Lifetime Achiever in 2017.