Renaldo Schwarp
On Air, On Screen and On Point Renaldo Schwarp keeps his finger on the pulse of South African pop culture Twenty-five-year-old Renaldo Schwarp’s face and voice are difficult to miss in and around the City of Cape Town. Currently the host of his own late-night radio show on CapeTalk, Schwarp is also the host of VIA TV’s weekly Afrikaans entertainment news show titled #GONS. With his upbeat personality and infectious smile, Schwarp – who entered the media industry in 2012 – is fast becoming one of South Africa’s most-loved and switched on media personalities.
Being on late-night radio weekdays between the wee hours of 23h00 and 02h00 has offered Schwarp the perfect opportunity to unleash his creativity by engaging with a myriad of personalities across various industries; always staying on point when it comes to topics of conversation that are sparking interest amongst his listeners.
“I’ve always loved connecting with people on topics that matter and that is why I’m attracted to the media industry,” says Schwarp, “I get to talk to people about current affairs and ensure I create opportunities on media platforms to encourage these difficult conversations. On the flipside – I am a story teller and there’s nothing better than hearing the stories of influential South African celebrities and personalities.”
Schwarp first became interested in South African pop culture and entertainment news at university. Having received a full bursary to study Law at Stellenbosch University, he respectively declined the offer to rather pursue his first love: a BA in Drama. During his third year Television and Radio classes, lecturers Elsabe Daneel and Susan Beyers spotted Schwarp’s innate presenting talent and spurred him on to join the campus radio station – MFM 92.6 – in 2012. The rest, as they say, is history.
In 2015 Schwarp accepted an internship at Netwerk24 where he invested time into creating online and video content for Media24, as well as spearheading and becoming the ambassador of WeCan24; a digital school news network which provides training for aspiring young journalists with a keen interest in the media industry and gives them the tools to set up their own online school newspaper.
Something very close to Schwarp’s heart. This experience helped him develop and fine-tune his content generation skills, as well as making him a seasoned presenter. Those very skills are what saw him producing and presenting the weekly digital programme #GONS, which is broadcast Fridays on the WeCan24 YouTube channel, as well as throughout the weekend on VIA TV (channel 147 on DStv).
Not one to brag but Schwarp has – to date – graced the Media24 digital billboard no less than fifteen times, making him not only one of the most-recognisable but also most-loved people in Cape Town.