After 4 years Ayanda-Allie Paine returns to eNCA to anchor a new, softer news, weekend breakfast TV strand, Weekend Wake Up.

Ayanda-Allie Paine is returning to eNCA (DStv 403) where she will anchor a new weekend morning programming strand, Weekend Wake Up from this Saturday and Sunday between 07:00 and 10:00.

The former eNCA'er left the eMedia Investments TV news channel in mid-2013 but is now back after stints at the SABC's SABC News channel and Morning Live and then Power FM where she resigned in September 2016.

Weekend Wake Up is a new news and lifestyle show that will revolve around entertainment, lifestyle and family issues and also include sport as eNCA tries to compete more directly with SABC2's Morning Live Weekend editions during the same timeslot on Saturdays and Sundays and ANN7's Vuka Africa that has a softer approach.

"It's news, with a little more breathing room," says eNCA channel news director Mapi Mhlangu.

"There is a different energy on weekends. Weekend Wake Up is designed for those who want to stay informed - but in a more reflective and relaxed way."

"The weekend breakfast show has a little more room to fully explore important topics for the South African public. Ayanda-Allie brings the perfect balance for this show as she has a strong news instinct but is also quite comfortable kicking back and exploring more feature-driven and lifestyle topics".

Ayanda-Allie Payne in a statement says returning to eNCA after the SABC and Power FM "is more of a homecoming" and that "having started my television career in the channel and then venturing out onto other platforms, it seemed like a natural progression for me to go back to an environment" like eNCA.

SABC's Ayanda-Allie Paine dumps SABC News and SABC2's Morning Live for new morning radio co-anchoring job at Power FM from 29 February.

The SABC's Ayanda-Allie Paine has dumped the public broadcaster and is leaving SABC News and SABC2's morning breakfast show Morning Live at the end of the month to join the Power FM radio station.

Ayanda-Allie Paine who joined the SABC from eNCA (DStv 403), leaves Morning Live and the SABC two and a half years after she suddenly left eNCA for the SABC.

"Morning Live, SABC has been a tremendous blessing in my life, it has opened many amazing doors for which I am incredibly thankful," says Ayanda-Allie Paine who recently was given the presenting job of the prime time talk show Visionaries' Lounge on SABC2 in late 2015.

Ayanda-Allie Paine will co-anchor "Power Breakfast" between 06:00 and 09:00 on weekdays from 29 February on PowerFM with Lawrence Tlhabane.

Ayanda-Allie Paine dumps eNCA; moves to the SABC's new SABC News 24-hour TV news channel.

The eNCA (DStv 403) anchor Ayanda-Allie Paine has dumped that 24-hour South African TV news channel to move to the SABC's new SABC News (DStv 404) TV news channel.

The SABC says in a statement Ayanda-Allie Paine is now a SABC news presenter.

Ayanda-Allie Paine's defection to another TV news channel marks the eNCA's first on-air face showing up on a rival South African TV news channel.

She's noted for this incident last year in March taking a nap live on the air, slumped over the anchor desk.

Two months ago the eNCA still publicised Ayanda-Allie Paine's anchoring of Morning News Today between 06:00 and 09:00 with co-anchor Dan Moyane.

The eNCA website still carries Ayanda-Allie Paine's profile and she is still listed on the eNCA website as one of the eNCA news team.

eNCA news channel on DStv unveils its excellent new anchor line-up; adding Eleni Giokos as permanent new anchor.

eNCA (DStv 403) unveiled its new anchor line-up to co-incide with the name change of the eNews Channel to simply eNCA and its expansion to the United Kingdom from tomorrow.

The new eNCA anchor line-up is excellent. It not only shows what's possible when you invest in people as a news media outfit, but the experienced telegenic news anchors are all qualified and the eNCA has a cache of talented TV news stars making several options possible.

The eNCA's new line-up will fully and officially come into effect from Monday 20 August although Iman Rappetti and Jeremy Maggs already co-anchored News Night together on Thursday night last week as their very first - and very successful - try-out. 

Here is the new eNCA line-up:

06:00 - 09:00 Morning News Today

Gareth Edwards, Ayanda Allie-Payne

Gareth Edwards and Ayanda Allie Paine will co-anchor the morning broadcast from now on. 

Ayanda Allie Paine will have to go to bed early so as to not fall asleep on the job. 

Ayanda Allie Paine is the least experienced of all the permanent new anchors; but is very able supported by the excellent Gareth Edwards who've transitioned extremely successfully from sport to anchoring the general news. 

Bonus points for the times when Gareth Edwards has already shown to be able to suddenly integrate the latest sport scores into news bulletins and immediately provide context and insight without the help of a teleprompter.

09:00 - 13:00

Macfarlane Moleli, Eleni Giokos

Macfarlane Moleli has more than paid his dues and continues to do so (and how wonderful that someone who studied on a rugby bursary can become a news anchor!). Eleni Giokos who joined the eNews Channel in July - news I scooped RIGHT HERE and who have done anchor duty during the day during August now gets this fixed anchor position. 

Macfarlane Moleli is well experienced as a TV anchor and holding down mid-morning coverage - as is Eleni Giokos.

Eleni Giokos must be so glad to be away from the doldrum pre-recorded CNBC Africa sponsored seminars which is so embarrassing to that business news channel while real news is happening. Eleni Giokos took the floor running and is a formidable asset for the eNCA in the anchor stable. 

With business news coverage starting mid-morning she's also perfectly placed to bring immediate insight and analysis on business matters if that's required. Her sterling acquisition by eNCA has immediately been put to good news.

13:00 - 16:00 News Day

Andrew Barnes, Bhavna Singh

There is simply no better agenda-setting, real-time TV news show in South Africa during midday than News Day anchored from Cape Town by the already-good-wine-getting-better Andrew Barnes, recently paired with Bhavna Singh.

News Day on the eNCA does for South African TV viewers what American local city broadcasts have been doing for years and which Americans take for granted - it's real news, told visually, as it happens. 

News Day not only report the news, but responds to it before the story is done - very difficult to do when you don't yet have all the answers or the complete picture and can't get guests to studio because they're still making the news.

Bhavna Singh is the next new co-anchor for Andrew Barnes. Will she last in this new timeslot? Since they all seem to leave, leaving Andrew Barnes almost constantly having to settle in with a new changing co-anchor dynamic. 

He does pull the musical chairs of changing co-anchors off very well however - as well as being the de facto voiceover go-to guy for the eNCA news promos.

Bhavna Singh is a tad more serious in her on-screen presence than Andrew Barnes' previous co-anchors - it's not necessarily a bad thing. Being less breezy means overall more grativas for News Day as her demeanour more closely echoes that of the formidable Andrew Barnes.

16:00 - 18:00

Joanne Joseph

Currently on leave with Debora Patta sitting in temporarily on late afternoons on the eNCA, Joanne Joseph keeps her berth during the later afternoon when the tier in which the day's biggest news stories of the day are going to rank start to crystalise with more in-studio guests already talking about the day's news events and newsmakers doing phone interviews.

18:00 - 21:00 News Night

Jeremy Maggs, Iman Rappeti

Oh my. the eNCA immediately captured lightning in a bottle with the new pairing of Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti for the news channel's flagship 2 hour nightly news show. 

I'm so immensely impressed by the instant chemistry, utter flowing professionalism and spontaneous exuberance which has been unlocked by moving and pairing Iman Rappetti with Jeremy Maggs.

Is this powerful news duo now together on News Night the start of the greatest era for this nightly news broadcast yet? 

Together Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti makes News Night simply ooze sexy news appeal. They're television news stars in primetime in their prime; they're pulling the wagon together like workhorses who don't need to be told what to do - and they're very clearly and visibly having a lot of fun doing it. 

You simply want to watch News Night now - with sly grins Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti know they're doing the very best appointment television news bulletin in South Africa. 

Having the luxury of two hours, the scope to do in-studio interviews and the resources to cover breaking news instantly incorporated into the show as well as perspective and analysis, News Night is a veritable tour-de-force of TV news coverage - strikingly well-done. If News Night isn't on you're PVR you're not getting the day's best TV news in South Africa.

BREAKING. The eNews Channel's tired news anchor Ayanda-Allie Paine takes a rest live on air, thinking viewers are watching the weather.

Maybe it was a slow news day at e.tv, maybe her work doesn't excite her, or maybe she was just tired but the eNews Channel (DStv 403) news reader Ayanda-Allie Paine was shown slumping forward taking a bit of a rest live on the 24 hour news channel - unaware that she was actually still on the air.

TVSA caught the moment and broke the news of Ayanda-Allie Paine taking a rest.

While throwing to the weather and thinking she's off the air for a while after the weather jingle and intertile, Ayanda-Allie Paine folded herself flat on her desk Saturday night taking a bit of a rest that was never supposed to be seen.

But a technical snafu in the control room at the South African news channel kept the camera on Ayanda-Allie Paine who was informally slouched over with her head on her right arm and who was clearly exhausted from reading the news - or just the plain boringness of it all.

Then Ayanda-Allie Paine suddenly realised that she's still on the air and that the camera is on her. Clearly embarrassed at being caught out, Ayanda-Allie Paine pulled herself up, sliding herself upright again in her chair while she smiled sheepishly at the camera.

The channel finally switched to the weather report and Ayanda-Allie Paine wide awake again following what must have been a bit of an adrenaline rush after her on-air gaffe.