Abigail Visagie tells me she is an introvert, which may very well be true, but she also appears to have a preternatural talent for finding herself looking very composed and comfortable in what is a very public-facing life.
The poised and articulate eNCA Newsnight anchor and I are taking tea and delicious breakfast treats in the gorgeous lobby of the Saxon Hotel in Steyn City.
I comment that this particular shade of green is the very one on the walls of the great rooms at the Royal Lodge — where Queen Elizabeth II grew up and that the Andrew formerly known as Prince is busy vacating.
It’s the kind of detail that appeals to the newshound in Abigail, but unlike the rest of us who can switch off the news at will (especially when it starts to bear down on our spirits), she has to stay tuned in permanently.
“Literally, very challenging. I think the responsibility of telling those stories and making South Africans aware of those stories sort of overrides that for me in the moment, but it is difficult, especially in a country where gender-based violence and just violence in general is so prominent.”
Abigail still pinches herself, not quite believing that she has come this far. “Growing up in …. Mafikeng, I didn’t see anyone from my community or even someone I could relate to on television or in magazines or doing interviews with newspapers. It wasn’t even a dream because you couldn’t envision it when you come from a small town or a small city; those ideas aren’t really there, because you can’t imagine them.
“I did a beauty campaign with L’Oreal Paris. And in the ad campaign I said, ‘Because I’m worth it,’ and I couldn’t believe that I was saying the words that I watched as a little girl. That transition for me was crazy because I just couldn’t comprehend that it was even possible for a little coloured girl from Danville to achieve those things.”
She has a sense that every break was somehow meant to be.
“Randomly one weekend we went to the Rand Easter Show. We were just there as a family and we were walking past a stand for the kids’ programme on eTV, and they spotted me and they were like, ‘You, come audition.’ TV was never even something that had crossed my mind. Yes, I was naturally talented because my dad would record everything on his camcorder — he has me presenting and acting and reading the news. But it never crossed my mind until that day. But it was just natural, and I got the job.”
When she wasn’t playing on go-carts in the neighbourhood with her two brothers, she entered all the pageants she could. Her parents, both educators, believed it would help her confidence but also insisted she go to varsity and study business management.
“The beauty pageants taught me how to win and lose gracefully, not just in pageants — in life in general. I think it taught me talking and speaking and communication skills. And I think that taught me a lot about skills that I would one day need as an anchor and being on the other side of the table and asking the questions.”
The life skills she learnt there stood her in good stead, with a thriving career undergirded by a strong work ethic. But it’s her grit that really gives her the edge.
She tells a defining story: while still studying she was called to audition as a news anchor. It was a lucky break that could have derailed at the starting blocks.
“That was ANN7. It was a very challenging time, obviously, because of what happened later, but at the end of the day I was just a young girl looking for an opportunity. And at the time I wasn’t aware of anything.“
After training for six intensive months with industry stalwarts Gerry Rantseli Elsdon and Chantal Rutter, they went live. “I was so nervous; when I get panicked I can’t see. I couldn’t read the autocue. It was just a complete train wreck. When I got off air I ran to the bathroom in tears. I called my dad and I said, ‘This is not for me. I can’t do this. I’ve just embarrassed myself in front of the whole country.’ And I remember Gerry coming to me and she said, “I see potential in you, but you need to stop crying now, pull yourself together and come back tomorrow and try again.”
“I came back the next day. And then, when I blinked, I had been there for five years. I had been given the opportunity to produce and present my own lifestyle show. I was on a roll and I had the craft on lock, and when I look back in hindsight, if I had quit that day, I wouldn’t be on eNCA today.
“So just believe in yourself, have that grit and give yourself some grace. Go through the hard times and persevere and pursue your dream. I mean, I’m the perfect example of that.”
This article was first published in Sunday Times Lifestyle.
