04 Aug 2026

For more than three decades, his voice rolled out of radios across Botswana like thunder in a drum. Deep, deliberate, unmistakable. 

If radio had a mascot, it was Mr Bampeile ‘Mascot’ Sehube.

This week, the son of Nata village will sign off from public service for the last time. But he will not be leaving the airwaves quietly. He will be trading his headphones for a hoe, retiring into agriculture.

From steel fixer to news anchor, Mr Sehube’ s journey to the microphone began with curiosity. Growing up in Nata, he was inspired by former Radio Botswana announcer, Mr Gaoomang Mosi, whose voice he listened to daily.

“What inspired me most was to know how someone could speak through a radio,” he recalled. “Where does he sit? Is he inside the talking machine? It gave me sleepless nights.”

Motivated, he left his six-month piece job as a steel-fixing labourer in Sowa and caught a bus to Gaborone. Colleagues warned him he would never find work with only a Form Five ‘C’ pass and that cattle herding was his best option. He proved them wrong.

He presented himself at Radio Botswana for an interview conducted by the late Mr Jerry Masite, then Station Manager. Six candidates turned up for three posts. Among them were Mr Mmoloki Mothibi and another Mr Mothibi from Mahalapye. 

Mr Sehube and Mr Mothibi were successful, though the Mahalapye candidate later resigned, saying the P342 monthly salary was too small.

The decisive question was: “Which radio programme do you like most?”   His answer: Newsreel.  

Little did he know it would be the very programme that would make him a household name.

Candidates were also tested on whether they were regular listeners. Because he had been travelling the day before, Mr Sehube could only recall the previous day’s Newsreel. He recounted the stories. The panel sighed and said: “This is the person we are looking for.”

After three months of silence, an offer letter arrived. On arrival, on 21 October 1990, he was assigned to Mr Michael Ditlhakeng, Head of the Newsreel programme. He joined a few days after Ms Lesego Kgajwane.

With equipment of the time manual typewriters, second-hand Nagra tape recorders from Britain, Mr Sehube mastered the job in three days. A supervisor remarked, He is extremely ready to present the programme with his deep voice.”

On his first day behind the mic, he panicked, thinking people outside could see him. He later presented the programme live twice.

His brand on Newsreel became synonymous with trusted field reporting characterised by other household names in the likes of Mr Mojaboswa Jabeng.  

“He needed not to be edited and he had no mistakes in his stories. He knew his story and told it,” Mr Sehube said.

Others who excelled on the programme included Ms Kebaeditse Baitlotli who reported from Lobatse, Ms Dyna Mfulwane from Selebi Phikwe and Bobonong, Ms Selinah Samson from Palapye, and Ms Kitso Simon from Serowe.

Born and bred in Nata, Mr Sehube walks in the footsteps of another son of the village who made his mark in the radio, Mr Gaoomang Mosi. 

From one small village, two voices that helped shape how Batswana heard their news.

He credits Mr Raymond Tsheko of Radio Botswana as a mentor and voice therapist who always advised him “not to change his voice.”

To those staying behind, Mr Sehube’ s advice is simple: “Know that you are the eyes of the people. The art of journalism requires that. Do not be carried away by being celebrities. What you hear from the general public is feedback on what you are doing.”

His deep voice, he says, refused to fade in the minds of many. On his first return to Nata on leave, villagers wondered if he was the man they heard on radio. 

“Those who worked for Radio Botswana and DailyNews commanded respect because these two were the most powerful mediums of disseminating information in those years,” he added. 

Now, with a Degree in Mass Communication under his belt, Mr Sehube is retiring but is not tired.

“I have served with my voice and now I want to serve with my hands. Agriculture is where I am going next,” he added.  

As the mic is passed on, one thing is certain, radio in Botswana will sound a little quieter. The drum has gone silent, but the echo of Mascot remains. ENDS