Cable theft silences community radio

Published Nov 13, 2015

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Rustenburg - Copper cable theft has silenced Mafisa FM, a community radio station in Rustenburg, the station said on Friday.

“Our transmitter was stolen last Saturday in Lefaragatlhe near Rustenburg - that is the reason we are not on air,” said Jacob Dikgang, secretary of the Mafisa FM board.

The station went off air on Saturday and upon investigation it was found that its transmitter was stolen. Copper cables were also stolen.

The station opened a case of theft at the Tlhabane police station.

Dikgang said the theft of the transmitter had cost the station a great deal of revenue.

“We cannot run adverts, we cannot serve our clients. This is costing us,” he said.

He said the station was speaking to Sentech with a view to having signal from Sentech transmitters relayed to the radio station.

“We are moving away from self broadcasting and allowing Sentech to provide us with signal. We have also called for an urgent meeting with Icasa [Independent Communications Authority of South Africa] to sort out frequency issues. Apparently we share frequency with another station,” said Dikgang.

He said the station could not guarantee when it would come back on air. “We are doing our best to get it back up and running,” he said.

Mafisa FM hit the airwaves 19 years ago. It is known for having unearthed prominent radio personalities who have gone on to mainstream stations.

African News Agency

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