Radithupa the weather man

| Friday June 21, 2013 00:00

 

To the viewer he is like the weather - love it today, hate it tomorrow.  The latter happens when his prediction goes wide off the mark.'O a bo a re shapa ka dithupa Radithupa (Radithupa is lying)' is an all too common expression - Radithupa also admits to hearing it often.He has an anecdote; one angry man told him to stop behaving like he is God and stop lying about the weather.To him such myriad responses speak to people's ignorance about his work as they also show that his 'customers' appreciate his work.He says that it is called a weather forecast because it guarantees no accuracy, as is the case with economic and financial predictions. 'And most of them do not turn out to be true,' he remarks about forecasts from other disciplines.

Radithupa says meteorology is a complex science dealing with uncertainties of the atmosphere. That the atmosphere is dynamic and open to a margin of errors in the process of weather predictions, is a worldwide concern.He says that they use a variety of models from countries such as Japan, Europe and USA as well as a homegrown one.He says the system can only allow for predictions that cover a wide area. A rain prediction for Gaborone would not specify the exact location(s) in the city. It could then rain in Old Naledi while a different weather is experienced in Mogoditshane.'We will always work hard to refine the product and tailor-make it for our customers,' he says, adding that their forecasts are reliable. He says people appreciate his work because he takes his vocation seriously.'People use my work to make decisions,' he asserts about sectors such as construction industry, Agriculture and the Health sector. He says even ordinary decisions such as doing laundry depend on his trade.

Radithupa always had an underlying love for science - physics and mathematics in particular. He also grew up an avid football player. His exploits as a striker earned him the moniker, 2 Eleven, in his childhood. Radithupa started his primary education at Manonnye Primary School in his home village of Serowe in 1979.  He then went to Tutume McConnell College between 1980 and 1984 for his secondary education.  He continued to play football at the time and was nicknamed after one yesteryears player, Tiza Sekgaphane.After secondary school in 1985, he applied for a programme at BCL and was placed as an apprentice.  He gradually moved across departments from electrical to plumbing. That is where he met fellow weather anchor, John Stergling, who had also enrolled in the programme. After only three months, life proved tough for the Form 5 school leavers. Radithupa's father was not very happy with his son's life in Selebi-Phikwe.He came with a truck and loaded the young man, along with his belongings, and moved him to his home village, Serowe.He would later get a scholarship to study for a diploma in meteorology in Nairobi, Kenya. Stergling was the one who had showed him the advert for the scholarship.

In 1988, he started working as a technician at Metrological Services before he went back to further his studies in 1995 at the University of Reading, UK. Radithupa contends that science has to be promoted not only in the school environment but in the workplace as well.He says the working environment for science professionals should be made liberal, attractive and conducive.Radithupa was born July 17, 1966 to a teacher, Gaobonale Radithupa Dabutha and Tumelo Radithupa, a shopkeeper. He is the first born out of five siblings - one of them passed on. Save for the last born, all are males.Radithupa married Botlhale Radithupa in September 2010, and they are blessed with two boys.  He likes live instrumentation music such as jazz and rock.  He also likes spending some of his time at the cattlepost and ploughing the lands.