Dumisani Chauke: Where Sport Meets Insight on the Airwaves

From the netball courts of Limpopo to the national stage, Dumisani Chauke has built a reputation as one of South Africa’s most influential voices in sport. A former SPAR Proteas player who went on to serve as an assistant coach at the highest level, Chauke has dedicated her career to developing athletes, empowering young women, and shaping the future of netball through leadership and education.

Now stepping into a new arena as a sports show presenter at Tshwane FM, she brings that same passion for growth and knowledge to the airwaves. Her show is more than just talk—it is educational and informative, designed for everyone who loves sport and wants to understand the ins and outs of it. With a unique voice and a natural ability to connect, Chauke uses her platform to break down the game, share insight, and inspire listeners to see sport through a deeper, more informed lens.

Whether on the court, the sidelines, or behind the microphone, Dumisani Chauke continues to redefine what it means to lead in sport—turning experience into education, and knowledge into impact.

Dumisani, Congratulations on joining Tshwane FM! What excites you most about this new chapter?
What excites me about this new chapter is the opportunity of another platform that I can use to educate, empower, share knowledge, motivate and inspire anyone that takes time to listen to the show, and watch the content on our social media pages, so it's basically an opportunity to be able to contribute positively to society and also using my voice.

How does being behind the mic compare to being on the court? 
Being behind the mic is actually more challenging than being on the court. I think being on the court comes naturally, because it's something I've done all my life, from about the age of 9, so it's more familiar. Being behind the mic is challenging, but I'm enjoying the challenge, I'm enjoying having to be a beginner, I'm enjoying having to be a novice, having to learn a new skill, learn how to use my voice, technicalities and everything else that has to do with radio.. Yeah it's different, the court is natural, it's a natural habitat for me, behind the mic is more challenging but I'm loving it.

What kind of sports stories are you most passionate about telling?
The radio show is actually a cross between story telling and educational talk show. Storytelling in terms of sharing stories about pioneers in different industries, but also educating audiences on different topics, especially topics that has to do with everything that happens beyond the scoreline and beyond the sports field. We look at things like marketing, like PR, the life of athletes, athletes post retirement, contract negotiations, sponsorship, branding and merchandising. Educating audience on the people behind the stories but also motivating and encouraging them.

If you look at the story of Desiree Ellis, often time we talk of her as the coach of Banyana Banyana, but in her own right is a human being, behind that. So the radio show is the cross between educating as well as telling real life stories of the superstars or the people that are on the pitch and how they live their lives or navigate their lives off the pitch and beyond the scoreline.

As a woman in sports and media, what impact do you hope to make?
I did not start this chapter hoping to do anything, I guess the impact would be educating more sports people, especially females, like how many times do we hear of athletes complaining about contracts, and contract negotiations, not signing contracts that later are not to their favour or they get done badly by the contractor. So the impact is more than educational feel. I think that's the impact I'd love to have, a positive educational, a real business of sports topics that will leave our audiences, women in sports, men in sports, coaches, retired athletes, officials, managers, more empowered, more educated on how to handle issues that impact and affect sports.

How important is representation in sports broadcasting, especially for young girls?
It is not important, it is critical, we need young voices, fresh voices to come through, tell different stories and come through with new ways of telling stories. Come through with innovative and creative ways of doing radio, and evolving the space, ensuring that the space remains innovative, remains on top of things, remains in touch with what is actually happening out there. Literally the radio station is run by young people, from the morning show to the  late night show. Yes the station manager and the big boss are all seniors, but it's literally run by the students of Tshwane University Of Technology, and that is such a refreshing perspective. It's a refreshing experience for me to be surrounded by all this young stars and young minds with different ways of thinking, and different ways of doing things, and they both encourage, inspire, motivate and challenge me. So yeah, I love it.

What advice would you give to young athletes who want to pursue careers beyond playing?
My advice to young athletes in terms of pursuing careers is that don't wait until you stop playing, start planning for it now, while you are playing so that by the time you retire, you do have something that's in the pipeline and you are not sitting around waiting for something to happen. So it's never too late to start, it's never too early to start.

What are your goals in this new role at Tshwane FM?
I don't have any goals for new role at Tshwane except to improve, learn as much as I can about radio, learn the technicalities of radio, learn as much as I can about radio presenting. You never know opportunities might come up. So I think the goal is to learn, improve, and be good in this radio thing. It could work out, if it doesn't work out, still. It's the new skill that I would have learned.
Yeah that's the goal, the goal is to enjoy it as well, it's a challenge. Enjoy the new challenge.

What legacy do you hope to leave in South African sport? 
The legacy I would love to leave into South African sports is of a young Tsonga girl from Malamulele in Limpopo, who believed so much in herself and just went for it. 
I did not allow where I was born to limit me, did not allow challenges to stop me from pursuing my dreams, my goals. I would love to leave a legacy of empowerment in sports, changing lives through sports, because I'm grateful for every opportunity that I've got to impact lives, to change lives through sport.

How would you describe your voice and style as a sports presenter?
It's a very special voice. I call it a bat man voice, it's a special voice, got it from my grandmother. It's very unique, I don't know how else to describe it. Big, bold, special in its own way. Funny enough, I used to get teased for my voice when I was a kid, but I turned that around, and I'm using my voice.
My style... I think it's more conversational..yeah I think that's it.😃

How has leadership shaped your journey both on and off the court?
Leadership has been an intergural part of who I am.. I think, and has had a very positive impact on my journey, yes both on and off the court. For some reason I would always be called upon to be a team captain, and I think people that would select me for this position, probably noticed certain attributes about me, and trusted those attributes and leadership skills so they entrusted me with leadership roles, which I really appreciate, because that also contributed to the type of player I am today, team player, making sure that everyone is involved in everything that we are doing. Even off the court I have always been someone who understood that before I can lead other people, I must lead myself, so I'm pretty strict and hard on myself, and unfortunately it can translate to those around me that it's not necessarily a good thing to a certain degree but those that appreciate assertive leadership definitely do reap the benefits. So leadership has played a critical role in ensuring that I get to the places that I'm at today. I'm able to lead in different roles that I've been entrusted to lead in, 
Thanks.

Catch Beyond the Scoreline every Wednesday 18:00-19:00 on Tshwane fm 93.6. 
 

Picture: Supplied