The SABC and Metro FM news reader Pearl Shongwe has passed away. Her family confirmed her “untimely passing” with “great sadness” on Tuesday.
“It is with great sadness that the Shongwe family announces the untimely passing of our beloved daughter Ntombifuthi Pearl Shongwe. She passed away in her sleep,” said Khehla Tshabalala, the family spokesperson.
“We kindly request that we be given the privacy to mourn her passing during this trying time. Our daughter was a celebrated radio broadcaster and TV presenter. Her presence will forever live on in our hearts. Further details will follow in due course,” Tshabalala said.
Shongwe began her career in 2010, after spending more than two years as Mo Flava’s co-worker and entertainment reporter at the youth radio station YFM.
She then worked for SABC Sport as a reporter and voice actor for their flagship programmes, including Sports Buzz, which is a children’s sports programme.
Shongwe later became a sports host on SportsLive on the SABC 24hr News channel and expanded her career to include news and current affairs on Morning Live alongside Simphiwe Ncongwane.
She was a newsreader on Metro FM and presenter on SABC 1’s talk show, Daily Thetha at the time of her death.
Police in Midrand confirmed they had found a 35-year-old woman’s body in an apartment and had since opened an inquest docket.
Colonel Noxolo Kweza, Gauteng police spokesperson said: “Midrand police have opened an inquest docket after a 35-year-old woman was found dead today [Tuesday]. The inquest will assist in establishing the cause of death. The woman will only be identified once the family has been notified.”
Tributes poured in on social media following the news of her death.
“The SABC has learned through the family of Pearl Shongwe that she had sadly passed away. The SABC extends its heartfelt condolences to the Shongwe family,” read a tweet from the official South African Broadcasting Corporation’s Twitter account.
Source: News24, Sowetan Live, Times Live, IOL, Eyewitness News, image from Twitter: @5FM