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A CELEBRATION OF TENACITY AND COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY MEDIA
REVAMPED STUDIO UNVEILING OF 27-YEAR-OLD VUKANI COMMUNITY RADIO STATION!
On Wednesday 14 June 2023, the community of Cala, Tsomo, Elliot and other surrounding areas in the Chris Hani District Municipality and Sakhisizwe Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape province, witnessed the unveiling of brand-new studios of Vukani FM studio by the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Ms Nomasonto Motaung (MP).
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During this momentous occasion, the Deputy Minister was accompanied by a group of distinguished guests, such as the local Chief Somidaka Zweloxolo Stokwe, Local Mayor, Mrs. Boniswa Ponoshe, representative from the Chris Hani District Municipality, on behalf of District Mayor, Mr. Wongama Gela, Vukani Board Chairperson, Mr. Siyabulela Maselana, Sakhisizwe and MDDA Board Chairperson, Professor Hlengani Mathebula. the apartheid regime police in Soweto on 16 June 1976. On the day, over 500 young people, including school students, were killed.
It was fitting that Vukani FM gets all this admiration a day before the commemoration of June 16, which is marked in the South African calendar as Youth Day, a day in which South Africans honour the youth that was ambushed by
Vukani is a living example of the impact of focused attention and effort by the youth. The station was established by the Cala University Students Association (CALUSA) in 1993, these were young people who realised the importance of radio as a platform to disseminate programming that addresses topical issues of local, provincial, and national interest and give their communities a podium to voice their views and participate meaningfully in their own development. The location of Cala in the heartland of the Eastern Cape was recognized by these students as a possible limitation in community upliftment and they saw fit to effect a change not only for their own benefit but for all citizens within the broadcasting radius of the station.
The Youth Day celebrations were also brought to life by the Cala Film group, who showcased a play depicting the happenings around that ominous day of June 16, 1976.
In her keynote address, the Deputy Minister in the Presidency paid homage to Vukani Community Radio’s 27 years of uninterrupted broadcasting:
“Vukani Community Radio is one of the oldest community radio stations amongst the likes of Bush Community Radio, Jozi FM (formerly Soweto Community Radio) and Radio Zibonele. These community radio stations have led the Africanisation of radio in South Africa, championed access to information in African languages and have led the cultural emancipation of society.”
It was heart-warming to see the current station Manager of Vukani, Mr Xola Nozewu displaying a suitcase size broadcast instrument that formed the basis for the start of the station. On the 9th April 1996, when the station went on air, Vukani was only able to transmit within a limited radius, and over the past 27 years the radius has improved to cover the areas of Chris Hani District Municipality and nearby local municipalities such as Mbashe, Elundini,
OR Tambo, Mnquma and Amahlathi, as well as the following towns: Cala, Elliot, Engcobo, Tsomo, Cofimvaba, Lady Frere, Indwe, Dordrecht and Queenstown, Ugie, Maclear, Tsolo, Mthatha, Ngqamakwe, Dutywa, Butterworth, Cradock, GraafReinet, Jamestown, Stutterheim, King Williams Town, Cathcart, and Hoffmeyer. Some of these areas, such as Mthatha, lie as far as 166 kms from the station’s headquarters.
The Chairperson of the Board in congratulating Vukani Community Radio directed that as part of the 20 years anniversary of the MDDA, the Agency should actively pursue the establishment of a museum of community media for South Africa.
The Vukani studio launch was hosted as the last event in a focused 3-day visit by the MDDA to the Eastern Cape province. The first two events took place in East London, namely, the first leg of the MDDA call for Grant Funding Applications Roadshow, which happened on Monday 12 June at the Garden Court, and the cocktail reception to kick-off the MDDA 20-year celebrations that took place at the ICC Premier Hotel.
A series of celebratory events that profile and promote the community media and small commercial media sector are planned for the remainder of the year under the theme “Democracy and Diversity: Celebrating 20 Years of Access to Information and Media Freedom through community media”.
