by Thinus Ferreira
Ramprakash Gopidayal, known as "Ramu", who created Impressions as the first-ever Indian programme for the South African public broadcaster in Apartheid-era South Africa in 1986 and who was also the first-ever Indian technician at the broadcaster, has died. He was 70.
Ramprakash Gopidayal died on Thursday after an undisclosed illness.
In a announcement, his family said "It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our dearly beloved Ramprakash Gopidayal".
"He was a devoted husband, loving father, cherished grandfather, and a true friend to many. he will be remembered for his kindness, generosity, and the positive impact he had on all who knew him."
Ramprakash Gopidayal joined the SABC in 1980 as the South African public broadcaster first-ever Indian technician.
Ramu became the executive producer of Impressions, the SABC's first weekly magazine lifestyle programme on South African television focused on the Indian community, and launched it at a time when the broadcaster had no template for how to do it.
Impressions on TV4 was hugely successful, showcasing South African Indian culture, personalities, community stories, news, music, lifestyle and fashion.
Impressions ran for 14 years on the SABC after it eas rebranded as Eastern Mosaic in 2000.
Lotus FM, then called Radio Lotus, is where Ramprakash Gopidayal, a guitarist, helped to set up the resident band Kamal Sungeeth with the plan to have the band play and build up a recording archive for the SABC of the music of local Indian artists in all languages.
So successful was the creation of Kamal Sungeeth as an in-house band that they went on the road and toured nationally throughout South Africa, and then also appeared on Impressions.
The band's success also led to South Africa's first Indian songwriting competition in the five languages of Hindi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujaranti and Telugu used in South Africa.
After his exit from the SABC, Ramprakash Gopidayal worked as station manager at Hindvani, the first radio station in South Africa for the Hindi-speaking community in the country, and also worked in the cellphone industry.
