This morning during a scheduled engagement with the Community Media sector and the new Minister in the Presidency, Jackson Mthembu before his budget vote to Parliament, members of the sector handed a memorandum to the minister to highlight the current plight of community media.
The Minister felt that he was ambushed by the sector as he was under the impression that it was a simple “meet and greet”.
Below is the memorandum as it was issued.
MEMORANDUM TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY, 17 July 2019
Community radio, print and TV sectors
Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, the country
has made impressive gains in the promotion of media diversity through support
for emerging, small commercial newspapers and community broadcasting services
serving the majority of the people who were previously excluded.
In the early 90’s media activists, many of whom are in
this room today, fought for the establishment of the Media Development and
Diversity Agency, tasked with the supporting community and independent media in
South Africa. Since then the regulator has license over 200 community radio
reaching an estimated audience of 8 million and 6 community TV stations
reaching an estimated, collective audience of 14 million.
Community Newspapers by Independent publishers print in
excess of 6 million copies per month with a readership that exceeds 20 million
South Africans in all 11 official languages. Collectively the sector employs
tens of thousands of previously disadvantaged individuals countrywide.
Unfortunately, in the last decade or so, these impressive
gains have been rolled back as stations have struggled for survival in the face
of weakened institutions (MDDA, GCIS and ICASA), state capture, government
complacency and failed promises.
Year after year the sector attends “engagements” with the
DoC, GCIS and the MDDA. Every year we regurgitate the same challenges and
propose the same solutions. Every year the government and its agencies promise
to address the issues and then nothing is done.
This year is different. The community media sector is on
the verge of collapse with an estimated collective debt sitting at around R180
million. This is made up largely of debts to SAMRO & CARPASSO, SENTECH,
SARS and rental. As we speak stations are being served eviction notices from
their premises, retrenching staff and getting deeper into debt.
It makes no difference whether the MDDA and GCIS report
to the DoC or to the Presidency, as long as something gets done. The sector simply cannot be allowed to fail.
We call upon the Presidency to implement the following immediate measures:
• Provide emergency relief funding to pay off the collective debt to SARS, SENTECH, SAMRO & CARPASSO (paid to stations or directly to debtors – to avoid CSD challenges) – R150 million for radio, R15 million for TV and R15 million for print.
• Increase MDDA budget to allow for annual grant for all community broadcasters and increased support for print publishers.
• Build MDDA capacity at board and operational level to speed up grant approval and disbursement.
• Implement the Parliamentary Portfolio Directive (Nov, 2011) to spend 30 % of government adspend on community media.
Additional measures to improve the sustainability of the sector are outlined in the full memorandum
It seems that everyone is counting down the days to “Black Friday” sales.
According to the Reserve Bank, consumer debt currently stands at R1.7-trillion, with a study by the World Bank revealing that about 25 million South African adults owe money.
We would like to ask our listeners to avoid getting caught by sales gimmicks and false discounts. Remember to plan for the necessities for the months ahead like your rent, bond, food and transport.
If it is on sale and you buy it on credit, remember that interest and fees will push up the price. Therefore, cash is king for sale items.
Don’t spend what you don’t have this means do not live beyond your means and don’t buy if you haven’t budgeted;
Set a realistic budget of what you can afford to spend at the beginning of your Black Friday/Christmas shopping and stick to it;
Don’t shop in a hurry, without a plan and place everything on your credit/ store card;
Plan carefully and pay particular attention to your budget, especially bearing in mind the additional expenses that come with the new year;
Have a shopping list to avoid buying unnecessary items if you don’t need it now, chances are you may never need it. So a void wasting your time and hard earned money
If you want to begin the New Year in a financially sound position, be aware of how you spend your money during this period and save for the New Year;
Do a budget for the festive season which includes all debt, rent, electricity, water, insurance, transport, gifts, school uniform, stationery, entertainment etc;
Don’t blow your bonus on treats. Spend Wisely and rather pay off your debts;
Shop around for specials and compare prizes; Spend wisely tomorrow and during the festive season and enjoy a financially relaxed and peaceful new year.
Remember that if you choose to ignore your budget and break the bank on Black Friday or max out your credit cards for festive shopping you may be headed for a bleak 2019.
13 February 2018 is World Radio Day– a day to celebrate radio as a medium: to improve international cooperation between broadcasters; and to encourage major networks and community radio alike to promote access to information, freedom of expression and gender equality over the airwaves.
Radio is the mass media reaching the widest audience in the world. It is also recognised as a powerful communication tool and a low cost medium
Bush Radio trainee breakfast presenter Yuzriq Meyer took time after his morning show to join students in the #FeesMustFall protests – more than being moved by what he saw, it was what he felt that had a greater impact, here is his story:
So today i had a first hand experience of what the #FeesMustFall protests are like
Being a radio presenter and speaking on matters I have no idea about would prove to be beyond ignorant, so in attempts to better understand the situation, students and the protest I joined in the NON-VIOLENT protest.
First we congregated at CPUT Cape Town Campus and made our way to the city centre and then through to Waterfront to get to Granger bay Campus.
This journey was not a easy one, as police barricaded the entry through the city.Multiple shot gun shots were fired into the sky to scare the students,but to no avail.
The students grew more passionate to get their point across and continue their protest. 100s of shops in the city closed their doors in fear that the students might hurt them or loot their shops.
But these students were not violent,nor were they out to harm anyone. They came to sing struggle songs and knock on the doors of government to request answers and let the them know they are unhappy with the 6% increase
But what television does not show you from the 1000s and 1000s of students protesting, it could easily be only 20 students with clear anger issues or a vandalistic nature or just plain stupid that throw bricks or bottles or kick doors.
This is not even a quarter of the students that are just ignorant and haven’t a cooking clue what a non -violent protest is because they cannot internalise their anger.
And during times when a few seem to get angry or violent 100s of the other students shout at them and said “No this is a peaceful protest,don’t be stupid”
Anyways I walked with the students and if something was clear to me is that these young people were not going to back down until not only government but the world hears their cries for change.
They screamed in the streets “We are the Mandela kids, we are the new generation and we will fight for our rights- Fees Must Fall – Fees Must Fall”
The sheer passion of the students was out of this world.
I may not have been around in the apartheid era in freedom struggle as an active participator, but from my experience of today i may have a better understanding to what it was like to be in the atmosphere of passionate comrades and the feeling of camaraderie in the air.
But only this time every single race was present. Black White & Coloured.
And to all the people sitting at home complaining about violent protesters, my analogy would be imagine 5 kids at a school breaking the toilet door and the principal decides to keep the whole school to pay for a few people’s stupidity, so i urge you to join in so you can see what exactly happens and also understand that those few ignorant people part of the group are not in any way a reflection of these kids and what they stand for.
These kids are saying no to a 6% increase on varsity fees and down with corrupt government that does not answer it’s youth and leaders of tomorrow.
I’ve said it then and i’ll say it again #FeesMustFall
I believe in your fight Comrades.Not just for you but for the future of this beautiful country.
Bushradio friend and radio activist Tracey Naughton with a Bush “wire” Radio
We came across an article on longtime Bush Radio friend and radio activist Tracey Naughton. One of the pictures of Tracey in the article was of her hold a collectors Bush “wire” Radio.
The Rantho-Letsebe Award for Radio is conferred in honour of Tshepo Rantho and Harry Mtshana Letsebe. Rantho and Letsebe were two of the pioneers of community media who, among other outstanding contributions, were at the forefront of the initial process leading to the Community Media 2000 Conference in 1995 and played a role in the development of the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Act of 2002 and the MDDA Regulations.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has declared the 13th February as World Radio Day. As Africa’s oldest community radio station project we at Bush Radio fully support this intiative as we believe in the power of radio to help build communities and improve lives.
Whether it is through our Children’s Radio Education Workshop (CREW) launched in 1996 where young people learn to use the medium to develop their skills and understanding of media or one of our programmes like Sakhisizwe – Bou die Nation, Build the Nation or even our specialised music programmes like Blues in the Bush where we connect the music to its roots in Africa – radio plays a vital part in almost everyone’s daily life.
Through technology like internet streamingBush Radio is able to connect to the entire planet with it’s audience not just from Cape Flats but with dedicated listeners in Asia, Europe and the Americas tuning into the station online through computers or mobile phones, Bush Radio truly is more than just FM radio.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) has declared the 13th February 2013 as World Radio Day. As Africa’s oldest community radio station project we at Bush Radio fully support this intiative as we believe in the power of radio to help build communities and improve lives.
Whether it is through our Children’s Radio Education Workshop (CREW) launched in 1996 where young people learn to use the medium to develop their skills and understanding of media or one of our programmes like Sakhisizwe – Bou die Nation, Build the Nation or even our specialised music programmes like Blues in the Bush where we connect the music to its roots in Africa – radio plays a vital part in almost everyone’s daily life.
Through technology like internet streamingBush Radio is able to connect to the entire planet with it’s audience not just from Cape Flats but with dedicated listeners in Asia, Europe and the Americas tuning into the station online through computers or mobile phones, Bush Radio truly is more than just FM radio.
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