Zookey Zarling's new cool job

After being fired from Gagasi FM, presenter Zukiswa "Zookey Zarling" Vutela is on the comeback.

Vutela lost her job at the KwaZulu-Natal station in November following drama between her and Uzalo star Kay Sibiya over paternity of Vutela's baby. She told Sowetan that she regarded the matter as a closed chapter.

When she left Gagasi FM, she discovered who she really was, Vutela said.

Now, she has landed a job with Africa Business Radio. The internet radio station was established in October.

Based in Randburg, Johannesburg, it broadcasts to the whole continent and beyond. It already boasts more than one-million listeners.

Vutela will start her new job next month, doing a weekday show between 9am and 11am.

She said: "I am excited to get such an opportunity. I am looking forward to the challenge that the job comes with."

Her show will deal with lifestyle, health, business and finance topics. "We talk to businesspeople [on] how to expand . to the whole continent. We talk about food, fashion, arts and creative industries."

Though she has not yet started, Vutela said she had already begun cooking the show behind the scenes, doing research and getting an understanding of the food and fashion industries in different countries.

So far, she has been to countries including Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Mozambique. Vutela is excited to work for a Pan-African radio station as she has been preaching the spirit of Pan-Africanism through her Facebook page, she said.

"Since the xenophobic attacks, I have been preaching that spirit. I had fans from other countries while I was still with Gagasi, and I kept [in] contact with them. It (her Pan-Africanism) began with my fashion sense. And now I get to spread the message through the station."

bambalelep@sowetan.co.za