The evolution of community radio in SA: a journey from apartheid to empowerment

IT’S NO SECRET that South Africa endured decades of division, discrimination and detention at the hands of an errant elite that was hellbent on perpetuating the evils of the horrid system of apartheid.

- ADVOCATE ROBIN SEWLAL

1976 was a seminal year as the “Soweto Uprising” shook the state to the rafters. The 1980s was marked by widespread turbulence as civil society became increasingly disgruntled with the direction of the country.

In the latter part of the decade, the Campaign for Open Media became a lobbying force, and the Campaign for Independent Broadcasting commenced advocating for opening up of the airwaves.

I happened to be part of these trailblazing initiatives — at times, they were exciting and elevating, but at other moments eerie and excruciating.

To borrow from Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”

A watershed conference titled Jab-ulani! Freedom of the Airwaves was held in August 1991 in Doorn, Netherlands. It was pronounced that a three-tier system of broadcasting needed to be established in South Africa, and the terrain must be regulated by an independent authority.

Apart from the public service viz the SABC, community and commercial radio stations must contribute to diversity on the dial.

The gathering in the Netherlands added that national community broadcasting should be participatory; it should be owned and controlled by the community itself; and the broadcasting content of the station should be determined by the needs of the community as perceived by that community.

In November 1994, Radio Maritzburg became the first licensed community service in the country.

Since then, approximately 200 stations have been granted licences by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).