Metro FM weekend breakfast host Nthabeleng Matela, popularly known as Mat Elle, has been nominated for a gong at the Africa Ladies Media Awards taking place in Accra, Ghana.
Nthabeleng hosts The Weekend Protocol from 3am to 6am on weekends. She is nominated in the African Female Radio Entertainment Show Host of the Year category.
The awards will take place on March 30.
Matela sees this nomination as confirmation that her radio career is headed in the right direction, rather than just an honour.
Nomination dedicated to listeners
“When I am behind the mic, I feel the most peaceful. Radio allows me to connect with people in ways I could never imagine,” Matela said.
“It’s a space that allows me to be entertaining as much as I could be vulnerable.”
Matela dedicated her nomination to the Metro FM listeners who have carried her since she joined the station in 2020.
She believes it is their support that has kept her strong, even during some of the most challenging times.
Matela, a former Tuks FM Drive Show presenter, has been nominated every year at the SA Radio Awards for the past six years, and has taken home two of the SA Radio awards, making her Metro FM’s first female recipient of such a prestigious award in 37 years.
Looking forward to connecting with listeners
Besides co-hosting the Metro FM weekend breakfast, she has been a regular stand-in on different Metro FM shows, including The Touchdown (for T-Bo Touch), The Breakaway (for Khutso Theledi), and various other shows.
“I’m looking forward to the awards in Ghana, and I’m looking forward to connecting more with my listeners in whatever show I do,” said Matela, who hails from the mining town of Carletonville but later moved to Pretoria.
She matriculated at Potch Girls High with four distinctions and is a University of Pretoria BCom Economics graduate.
