She read English and American Studies from 1979 to 1982 at Keele University in England and Dar es salaam.

She specialised in parliamentary reporting, but also made radio documentaries, notably: Zimbabwe - Five Years after Independence.

She also covered the 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), held in Nassau in the Bahamas, interviewing, among others: Rajiv Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Edward Seaga.

In 1994 she became the presenter of Carte Blanche, South Africa's top weekly current affairs feature programme.

In 1995, Martine returned to London to work on current affairs programmes, including Correspondent.