John Berks

Berks was born in Krugersdorp to Jewish parents Louis Berkowitz and Hennie Nochimowitz.[1] He grew up in Klerksdorp, the youngest of three siblings. His father died when he was fourteen.[1] He dropped out of Milner High School before finishing standard eight.[2][3] He found work at Dandy Polish and on the production line of a soap factory in Rosettenville owned by a family member.[1][4] He worked as a delivery boy for the Klerksdorp Rekord and then at the Germiston Advocate as a sports journalist.[2] He then completed his national service in the SADF.[1][5]

As a child, Berks had a strong interest in radio, imitating his favourite stars and sports presenters.[1] As an adult he took elocution lessons with Colin du Plessis, a SABC English language service broadcaster, to remove his Afrikaans accent and make himself more sellable in broadcasting.[1] He would audition for LM Radio, first with Rob Vickers and then with Gerry Wilmot before being offered a position in 1964 with the broadcaster.[6] He would become a programme manager for them in 1969 in Johannesburg before leaving them in 1970.[6] While at LM Radio, he was sent by David Davies to Australia to study techniques for commercial radio.[1]

After LM Radio, he would work for Springbok Radio, Swazi Music Radio out of Johannesburg, Radio 5 and Capital Radio 604 in the Transkei.[7] He then joined the independent radio station Channel 702 on the 1 October 1981 taking over the breakfast show from Clackie McKay.[7][8] The music station had started broadcasting in June 1980 in competition with Radio 5 (now 5FM), also on medium wave.[7] By 1983, Berks was the highest paid DJ on radio in South Africa.[8] In 1988, Berks took a year's sabbatical from the station.[8] He was one of the key staff members that changed the direction of the station in 1988 to talk and entertainment and finally rebranding it as Talk 702, talk-news station.[7] Berks investigated talk radio in America when Radio 5 rebranded as 5FM broadcasting nationwide in 1985 and 702 found it could not compete for audience as a medium wave channel.[7] He would retire from 702 several times before returning one last time on the channel as John and Gary.[6] In January 2001, John Berks retired and was replaced by Gareth Cliff.[8]

Berks died in June 2022 after a long illness.[3] He was survived by his partner of 16 years, Manda Wessels and two children from his ex wife, "Celeste Greenblatt" Lance and Sherise and grandchildren Joshua, Tia, Benjamin, Mia, and Jesse.[2] He was buried in the Jewish section of West Park Cemetery on 7 June 2022.[9]

In 2010, he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in radio in South Africa and was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.[10]

He also had a laneway in Klerksdorp named in honour of him, John Berks Road.[11]

• John Berks discography at Discogs
• John Berks at IMDb