Bush Radio is non-profit community radio and has been offering broadcast and training facilities to the people of Cape Town for the past 23 years, since before our first legal broadcast on the 9th August 1995.
An example of training course conducted at Bush Radio in 1993
As we celebrate our 23rd birthday, we are running a pledge drive during our birthday month – from the 1 – 31 August 2018 – where YOU can make a donation towards our work.
Bush Radio newsroom trainees in 2005 (front Nadia Samie and Lunga Guza , back: Megan Paulse, Busi Mtabane and Bronwen Heather-Dyke
We call on former interns, staff, volunteers, board members, NGOs/CBOs, artists, musicians, designers and companies who have benefited from our broadcast and training services or who want to support our work, to contribute towards making a difference in the lives of others.
Through such donation, you will contribute to the continued existence of Bush Radio, and also make the opportunity available to others to benefit from Bush Radio’s services.
Our bank details are as follows:
Bank: Standard Bank Name of account: Bush Radio Training Account Account number: 07 119 4185 Branch name: Mowbray Branch code: 004909 Address: 37 – 39 Main Road, Mowbray, Cape Town, 7700 Swift code: SBZAZAJJ (for international donations)
If you would like a receipt for your donation, email the proof of payment to donate@bushradio.co.za
For more information please feel free to contact us on 021 448 5450
If you are a (small or large) business you may want to consider showing your support by taking out an advertising package on the station.
The tags below are just some of the names of individuals who have received training through the work of Bush Radio
A few weeks ago, Bush Radio Managing Director Brenda Leonard and Programme Integrator Adrian Louw were nominated for the esteemed Nat Nakasa Award – and it’s just been announced that they made the 2018 shortlist!
The award is named after South African journalist Nat Nakasa, and is given to individuals who show exceptional integrity and courage in their work.
Nakasa embodied fearless journalism at a time – the 1960s – when media was anything but free. During a period when black voices were rarely printed or heard in the news, Nakasa was one of the most important and influential anti-apartheid reporters.
SANEF says that those who are nominated must have “shown integrity and reported fearlessly and tenaciously striven to maintain a publication or other medium despite insurmountable obstacles”, as well as resisted censorship and displayed commitment to serving the South African people. She began working at Bush Radio in 1993 and says that the biggest accomplishment of her career is ensuring that Bush Radio is on air and legal at all times.
Nat Nakasa was often called a brave journalist, and Leonard says South Africa still needs people like this, even in the post-apartheid era, because journalists can expose corruption and educate.
“Even when there were threats to our sustainability, Bush Radio is important historically and currently influential,” Leonard said.
She said that Bush Radio has shaped the establishment and legislation of the Media Development Diversity Agency, which was created by an Act of Parliament to help disadvantaged communities who lack access to media.
Louw says, while Brenda Leonard keeps the organization running, he is responsible for programming, staffing, and mentoring.
He says his favorite part of the job is creating a safe space for young people to develop and become courageous journalists.
“The experience people have here changes lives and that’s the joy of being a part of an organization like Bush Radio,” Louw said.
He said that through his career, he has witnessed Bush Radio at the forefront of developing and defending the community sector of radio in the country. He said he considers Bush Radio one of the last “truly independent voices for the community”.
“I think we create hope in people about what’s possible,” Louw said. “We only rise when the lowest of us rise, and Bush Radio has and always will rise with the people we serve in the community. This is my small contribution to making South Africa better.”
The winner of the Nat Nakasa Award will be announced on Saturday, June 23 at Randlords in Braamfontein, Johannesburg*.
* Brenda and Adrian have asked a former Bush Radio staff member (now based in Johannesburg) to represent the station at the awards dinner.
International Women’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements without regard to divisions, whether national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. International Women’s Day first emerged from the activities of labour movements at the turn of the twentieth century in North America and across Europe.
Since those early years, International Women’s Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women’s movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women’s conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point to build support for women’s rights and participation in the political and economic arenas.