The first of our local government elections 2021 debates started today and it generated lots of interest, in Cape Town but also internationally (see pic above)
Local government elections directly affect your neighbourhoods so we encourage everyone to select the representatives who meets your needs. Bush Radio is the best platform to get the information you need to make your mark on the 1st November 2021 – Democracy is not a spectator sport – listen, engage, do!
The debates will take place between 2pm and 4pm on the days below and will be broadcast live on Bush Radio 89.5FM and online via http://www.bushradio.co.za
Wednesday, 20 October 2021 : Manifesto and Service delivery.
Thursday, 21 October 2021: Housing
Tuesday, 26 October 2021: Transportation
Wednesday, 27 October 2021: Job creation/Unemployment
Thursday, 28 October 2021 : Independent candidates
It has been a hectic couple of months at Bush Radio as we provided debates with all the political parties, encouraging listeners to vote, covering the voting stations and the results as they became available.
We would like to thank all the people involved in making sure we kept everyone up to speed on making their mark.
A special thank you to our listeners, volunteers, supporters and the Western Cape IEC team headed by Courtney Sampson and their media office, Trevor Davids and Olivia Nagan.
Bush Radio will continue our work to promote building democracy and expand on its “Democracy is not a spectator sport” philosophy.
Yesterday (25 July 2013) Chester Missing stopped by the Bush Radio studios with Conrad Koch. He was interviewed by Natalie and Freedom on Everyday People (weekdays 4-7pm) about the Chester Missing Roadshow which is currently on at the Baxter Theatre.
French journalist Sophie Massieu, her guide dog; Pongo and director, Olivia Buffi and crew were at Bush Radio to film a segment for a new documentary series called “Through your eyes”. Sophie is undertaking a journey with people from all around the world and trying to capture their feelings and heritage.
They are in South Africa for two reasons; to strengthen the relationship with Bush Radio and to attend a research project discussion in Cape Town.
Paul Smyth said that when he visited Bush Radio 12 years ago it challenged and changed the way he views youth work and and was one of the seeds that led to the creation of WIMPS 4 years later.
Paul explained that the research project that they are involved in will look at different organisations around the world and how they work with young people in ways that encourage young people to change political systems.
Seven organisations are part of the research in SA and they are drawn from Northern Ireland, South Africa and the United States.
WIMPS is an organisation that tries to make politics more accessible to young people, it’s about trying to make young people use their voices and make politicians accountable for their actions.
Stephen added that the work done by Bush Radio is fantastic and that it is essential to stretch this kind of work to Northern Ireland.
One of Bush Radio’s board members and a strong anti-apartheid activist Professor William Tilden McClain passed away on Sunday the 02nd of October 2011. We at Bush Radio mourn his death.
Professor McClain was originally from a small town inIndiana in the United States, and after his studies served as Deputy Attorney General of Indiana.
His first interest of South Africa began in 1950’s when he went to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the Universityof London. Initially he was going to study Indian or Middle Eastern law, but was drawn to African law. At this time he also followed the Treason Trial in South Africa very closely.
In 1961 he was sent by the University to do research and collect documents in Africa. He drove from Nairobi to Lesotho and visited eight African states, including Swaziland. This is where he met his wife May Vuyelwa Hillary.
Professor McClain had a very close relationship with the struggle movement and its leadership in exile especially Oliver Tambo and Chris Hani. In an interview with a Bush Radio intern two months ago he recalled a story of how he got to give Oliver Tambo his sunglasses. “Oliver and I were on the plane heading for Zambia. Just before we landed in Lusaka, Oliver asked me to give him my sunglasses for disguise and I gave them to him and I never got them back”
He became involved with Bush Radio more than seven years ago and served on the board at the time of his death.
Professor McClain has been described as a leader, mentor and a person who was always willing to give. His guidance and generous heart will be sorely missed by everyone at Bush Radio. He has left a void which no one can fill. Our condolences go to his wife, children, extended family and his friends.
Dancers Don’t Cry premiered at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in March 2011, with matinees and evening
shows. All four shows played to packed houses, standing ovations and rave reviews. Comments ranged from “A truly brilliant show” to “The best dance/drama I’ve ever seen” to “Brilliant dancing, outstanding acting and a beautiful story.”
Requests for a re-run of this dynamic production poured in, and, it was recently announced that a re-run of Dancers Don’t Cry is
heading for the CTICC on the 2nd July 2011.
A squad of 60+ exceptionally talented dancers will be performing in the magnificent auditorium at the prestigious venue of the CTICC.
Dance pieces include Krumping, Hip-Hop, Ballet Funk, Contemporary and Cabaret. Every dance piece has been hailed as a masterpiece and a must see!
The story is about the journey of 3 young dancers who find themselves trapped in a volatile world of dance politics.
Nationally renowned producer, director and choreographer; Glenda Jones, is ecstatic about the re-run. “It is a dream come true for
the multi-talented cast of Dancers Don’t Cry and a wonderful opportunity to present a show that has captured the hearts and minds of those who got to see it. Don’t miss this run!”
On the 18th of May 2011, South Africans took to the polls to put their mark in the fourth Local Government Elections. The race to the elections was an interesting one. Political parties pulled out all the stops to ensure that they received as many votes as possible, and the battle for the Western Cape was especially hotly contested.
With the help of these students, we brought you live reports from voting stations all over Cape Town. Together with our regular newsteam these students were our roaming reporters on the day as well as bringing reports and live programmes from the IEC results centre until the final results were announced.
Here the students share their experiences of being trained, working with, and reporting for Bush Radio with you:
“The 2011 local government elections were a nail-biting event, as it saw the leading party, the ANC and the official opposition the DA pulling out all stops to win the votes of the many registered South African voters. Being in the middle of this highly contested election was both a very nerve-wracking and very exciting experience for me. Reporting live for Bush Radio and speaking with both for time and regular was an experience that I will cherish for a very long time.”
Bhekimpilo Dungeni
“Working with Bush Radio is certainly great, but to get to cover the 2011 Local Government Elections and get to interview candidate councillors for different wards was an opportunity to die for. As a young and aspiring journalist, I had the opportunity to mingle with different political officials as they made their last minute rounds before the voting stations doors closed at 7pm on Election Day. It was a great experience being live on radio for the first time, although nervous at first, but it kept me on the edge and it became the drive for me to deliver the best of my ability. I am certainly looking forward to working with Bush Radio in future, and I thank the whole team at Bush Radio who went out of their way to make sure we were ready for the big day. Thank you to our CPUT colleagues and lecturer Mr Shepi Mati for believing in us.”
“When they told us we are going to be reporting live from our voting stations, I was nervous. I didn’t know how to feel, what to feel. When I started that morning it was cold but I made the most of it. As the time for my live cross approached, my heart was beating faster. But after that it went better. Despite me being nervous, I was excited at the time. I was going to vote for the very first time. That experience cannot be put into words. I sounded somewhat professional although I’m still a student. The Bush Radio team put a great deal of energy and faith into training us for this particular task and they are great for that. Not forgetting Mr. Mati for all his awesomeness.”
Thapelo Sodinga
“As a young journalist and a person who is studying journalism at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, being on the field is the most important thing that I always wished would happen in my career. On the 18th may 2011, I can say my dream had come true. The experience that I had during the IEC local government elections was quite a phenomenal one. My experience of the day is really indescribable working with Bush Radio. And of course talking with the Congress of the People (COPE) candidate Mr Phinda Siyo on the day was such an exciting moment for me. Getting to know the process of those elections was also a wonderful experience for me. Lastly, thanks to Bush Radio who gave us such platform to showcase our skills.”
Lauren Petersen
“The Municipal elections are always very exciting but this year it was even more exciting. The reason for this is because I reported live for Bush Radio about the events happening in my area on that day. At first I was nervous because thousands of people will be listening to me, not to mention my family as well. I’m glad everything went smooth though, and according to plan. I enjoyed every moment of it, even standing in the cold and coming home with a headache it was all worth it. Thank you to the Bush Radio Team for giving me the opportunity to be a real journalist for a day.”
Dylan Oktober
“Covering the local government elections was an exceptional experience from the time I arrived at the voting station till the time the voting station closed. It was exciting reporting the happenings of the day as well as interviewing people from different walks of life. I must admit that reporting for the first time was nerve-wracking and required a lot of work as the day progressed but I was able to handle the pressure and deliver a product with which I am satisfied with. I feel privileged for being given the opportunity to report for Bush Radio and I am thankful for the staff’s support throughout the day.”
Baden Gillion
“The experience of working as a journalist reporting on the local elections has been one of the highlights of my life and the memories will always stay with me. The highlights for me were reporting for Bush on the voting process at my local voting stations, to co-hosting the live radio show, Backchat, interviewing Marius Fransman, the Chairperson of the ANC. The absolute best moment was breaking a news story about an investigation into an IEC official before any other media house. This has been an amazing life experience and I’d like to thank Bush Radio for giving me this opportunity.”
“Bush Radio has granted me one of the greatest experiences in my life. For the first time since I’ve started my studies I felt like a “real” journalist. My highlights include every second spent at the IEC Results Centre, where I interviewed various politicians, lined up various politicians alongside my fellow student journalists, including getting the Tony Ehrenreich interview for the coveted 7 o’clock spot, ahead of other media institutions. Also co-hosting Backchat along with my fellow student journalists was a nerve-wracking but ultimately awesome experience. I would like to express my gratitude towards Bush Radio for handing us this opportunity which has helped us to become better journalists. Also a special thanks to Lusanda, Khanyisa and Freedom for showing us the ropes first hand, you guys were awesome.”
“Every student has a particular inclination or plateau within their chosen field of study which they aspire to, something that makes them say “I could do that” or “that will be me in ten years”. Personally, one of these inclinations has always been radio journalism, so when the opportunity to work and gain real-life experience with the Bush Radio team was made available to me, saying that I was excited would probably be the understatement of the year. From the very start of our “working week” all of the students involved were made to feel welcome and part of the team, even though we had very important tasks to perform under the Bush Radio banner: Live coverage in residential areas of the 2011 IEC Municipal elections and coverage of all the happenings at the IEC results centre afterwards, which culminated in myself and three of my class-mates co-hosting Backchat. I would just like to thank the Bush Radio crew as a whole, because by the end of the week I was looking at people within the journalism profession whom I admire and saying: “I did that” and “that was me yesterday”.
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