From escaping Mugabe regime to Radio Sheffield presenter at 21: Sile Sibanda’s amazing journey

Sile Sibanda has gone from escaping the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe to starting a new life in Rotherham before winning a prestigious BBC job aged just 21. Chris Burn reports.
Sile Sibanda has just become BBC Radio Sheffield's latest presenter after a winning a public competition to get the job. Picture: Chris EtchellsSile Sibanda has just become BBC Radio Sheffield's latest presenter after a winning a public competition to get the job. Picture: Chris Etchells
Sile Sibanda has just become BBC Radio Sheffield's latest presenter after a winning a public competition to get the job. Picture: Chris Etchells

Sile Sibanda says she doesn’t remember much of her childhood in Zimbabwe, but she does clearly recall being reunited with her mother for the first time in two years on her arrival in Yorkshire after joining her in escaping from the misery of life under the Mugabe regime. “The first thing I did was start crying,” says Sile.

Sile was just 10 when her mother left Zimbabwe and was only able to join her in Rotherham along with her sister at the age of 12 after two years of living with her grandmother and relatives. But less than a decade later, the outgoing 21-year-old has spoken in the House of Lords, almost completed a university degree and has just landed a job at BBC Radio Sheffield by beating 150 other applicants to become a new presenter on the station.

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Meeting The Yorkshire Post in her new surroundings at the radio station, Sile explains that she and her sister had kept in touch with their mother Sithule Moyo, a qualified teacher, through phone calls while she tried to build a new life in England and awaited the outcome of her successful application for asylum.

The family’s move to the UK followed a period of turmoil in Zimbabwe. In 2008, elections marred by political violence and the eventual boycott of main opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai were followed by major food shortages.

Sile says: “Mum came to this country and as a child, you don’t understand much. I don’t know the exact situation but there are two main tribes in Zimbabwe and she was from the tribe Mugabe hated. You could sense the tension in the adults and in the shops there was hardly any food. We were quite lucky because we were relatively well off but you did see a lot of people struggling. You had to pay school fees as well and some kids would get sent home. But most of the time, we were just playing outside and being kids.”

She says the first thing that she noticed when she and her sister arrived in England – in addition to the cold weather – was the countryside as they made their way from Heathrow airport up to Yorkshire.

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“I had no idea what to expect of England, I didn’t even know Rotherham existed. When I thought of the UK, I just thought of London – I didn’t think there were farms or trees as on the news, you would only see London and all of its tall buildings.

“For me the best thing was we had a lot more food choices. It sounds strange but I was very excited to eat rice because in Zimbabwe we have ground maize meal and rice was only for special occasions. Me and my sister said ‘we are going to eat rice every day!’”

Sile started attending Rawmarsh Community School and also began to pick up an insight into English culture by watching soaps like EastEnders and Coronation Street with her mum. “The people were really friendly in Rotherham, we lived in a neighbourhood where lots of kids played out so it was similar to Zimbabwe in a way,” she says. “For me the challenge was trying to make sure people could understand what I was saying and getting used to speaking more clearly as I realised my accent could be a barrier. I was sometimes having to explain things twice or three times. I was used to switching between languages in Zimbabwe and at school I had to stop myself from saying something in my language.”

The outgoing Sile went on to set up a ‘Glee Club’ – involving singing and dancing and inspired by the television show Glee within a year of coming to England.

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“I thought there are not a lot of things for young people to do here. We used to go to a Catholic church and someone told me there is funding available for young people to set things up so I decided to start a Glee Club.”

The club became linked with the Children’s University initiative which encourages young people to try new experiences, develop new interests and acquire new skills and Sile was invited to speak at the House of Lords about her project, as well as appearing as a guest on Radio Sheffield.

After initially wanting to do a radiography degree, Sile ended up studying forensic science and psychology at the University of Derby and is currently coming to the end of her third year.

But her career path has taken an unexpected turn after she heard about Radio Sheffield’s ‘This Is Me’ competition which was launched in late 2018 to find a new presenter to work at the station on a 12-month paid contract.

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“Two weeks before I heard about the competition, I was walking past the Radio Sheffield with my friend and said to him, one day my picture will be going in there,” she says.

“He said we will see. I was serious but also joking – never in a million years did I think I would ever get a chance to work here.”

She was chosen following an intensive X Factor-style audition process that started with an audition at the New York Stadium in Rotherham in front of a panel of judges including the station’s breakfast presenter Toby Foster, BBC Look North presenter Amy Garcia, Radio Sheffield editor Katrina Bunker and Lord Mayor of Sheffield Magid Magid.

Each entrant had to tell the judges a short story – Sile’s was about her dream of owning a pub that she wanted to turn into a base for young people, which a few years later did end up being used for that exact purpose.

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She made it through to the final 15 who had interviews at Radio Sheffield before getting into the final three, who were all invited in on different days to shadow the breakfast team as they went on air.

“It was really, really exciting. I actually came in an hour earlier than I should have. But it meant I got to see a little bit more beforehand than I would have done. I was like a kid in a candy store.”

In February, Sile found out she was the winner at an event at Radio Sheffield. “It was unreal. I had to take a second to make sure they had called the right name out and digest everything.”

Sile started working in March while still completing the final part of her degree in Derby. She says her brief time at the station so far has shown her the overlap between her degree and her new job.

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“I have always been fascinated with why do people commit crimes and how can you improve things. I realised when I started working here at Radio Sheffield that forensic science skills are like journalism – you are trying to get information from people to find the story.

“From the 12 months, I hope to learn as much as I can. I wanted to make sure everybody realises how amazing the people who work here are and how hard they work to make sure everybody’s story gets heard. I also hope to get to know my community a lot more. In terms of what’s next, I have no idea. Every time I have a plan, life takes me in a different direction.”

Personality ‘shone through’

Sile’s ‘sunny personality’ helped win her the BBC job, says Katrina Bunker, managing editor of Radio Sheffield.

“Sile has fought off some really tough competition to win This Is Me,” she says. “Sile was the final winner because her sunny personality, curiosity and enthusiasm for radio and her passion for the area came together in the perfect package.

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“I would like to thank everyone who took part in the This Is Me auditions. The calibre of the applicants was incredibly high and I was genuinely blown away by the talent out there in our region.”

Sile was also one of the main speakers at Rotherham Council’s recent Holocaust Memorial Day event, which had the theme ‘Torn from Home’ this year.