As news very quickly spread among the production crew and staff of the SABC's flagship weekday breakfast show Morning Live and SABC News personnel that Vuyo Mbuli had suddenly died, the first feeling amongst many were one of disbelief, followed by "intense concern" for particularly his co-anchor Leanne Manas, several people close to the production told TV with Thinus on Monday.
Several people involved with the SABC2 morning show who spoke on condition of anonymity since they're not authorised to speak publicly on behalf of the programme, told of how "almost unbearable" it was to go to work today after the death of Vuyo Mbuli was announced by Morning Live's weekend staff on Sunday morning.
With Peter Ndoro doing another SABC and New Age breakfast briefing in Cape Town, it meant that Leanne Manas would have to front the Monday broadcast of Morning Live on her own at the main table after saying she was "devastated" by the death of Vuyo Mbuli.
"Leanne is one of the strongest people and she's unflappable when it comes to technical problems, but Vuyo's death made it very, very difficult. They've both been used to stretches where the other one's not there but this was completely different from anything [Morning Live's] had to deal with before," said one insider. "Leanne is the face of all of us, and what we are is very sad. An irreplaceable part - an irreplaceable one of the team - is no longer here."
"Going into Monday everyone knew it was going to be different and difficult," tells a source. "The whole energy is unlike anything before. Firstly it's because he's gone and Leanne and Vuyo would back each other up when things go a bit wrong on-screen. Now he's gone and he's never coming in to be mic'ed up again."
"Secondly everyone is hovering on the verge of crying the whole time. And if we cry Leanne might cry," said the person. "Since Sunday people are intensely thinking about Vuyo's kids and family and there's been intense concern for Leanne. She was very courageous on Monday morning."
SABC2, asked for a response from the channel's channel head about the passing of Vuyo Mbuli and how SABC2 feels, didn't respond to media enquiries, but another close source talked about how "unreal" it feels within the corridors of Auckland Park.
"The past two days and Monday's Live felt like slow-motion. We must go on; we will go on for Vuyo but it's hard to concentrate. The show's experienced some tragedy and difficult stuff behind the scenes a few times, Tracy [Going] and things like that, but nothing close to this before."
A high-level SABC newser described the atmosphere within the SABC on Monday as "depressing" in relation to Vuyo Mbuli "because nobody got to say goodbye."
"It's not really ego but a lot of news and current affairs people come to feel after a while that they're invincible. You feel you can do anything; that there will be a next day irrespective of whatever drama there is in the world and that you're in control. They're always planning the next big thing, they're part of the 'pacemaker' rhythm as news and events unfold and are shaped and as they help to shape them. When one of those 'invincible' people is suddenly not coming back on Monday morning, it's unsettling, really."
Another insider behind the morning show talked about how Morning Live and the SABC has been overwhelmed with a somewhat unexpected, large outpouring of tributes, reaction from viewers and messages from far beyond South Africa; Swaziland, Botswana, the United Kingdom; even New Zealand.
"After 13 years Vuyo Mbuli had spoken to almost everyone who's anyone. He was almost always ready to travel anywhere in South Africa at the drop of a hat. He did the show from inside a plane. He made the SABC come across as professional even when situations behind the camera wasn't ideal. It's now so clear that millions of South Africans had come to just accepted him as this SABC face and voice for forever. It hurts, it hurts that he's gone."
When asked about replacement plans and a new co-anchor for the Morning Live seat next to Leanne Manas, and when that would happen, the answer was "too soon, too soon. No-one's even close to there yet. The focus is on getting through the mornings, honour Vuyo's legacy and continue."
"It hasn't been easy for all of us at Morning Live," Nothando Maseko, the executive producer of Morning Live told SABC Television news on Sunday.
"Vuyo Mbuli's work was a shining example of commitment and service to citizen-oriented journalism and public broadcasting," says the vast public pressure group SOS Coalition. "He left an indelible mark on the lives of those he touched in both his life and through his work, and will forever be remembered for it."
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