Cape Town - The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (Icasa) closure of Khayelitsha-based community radio station Zibonele FM has been greeted with outrage.
Station management said the closure was because the two parties disagreed about “administrative issues”.
Zibonele FM has been operating without a licence since it lapsed in 2018.
After the announcement, the station held community engagements. An online petition was started, and a community prayer was held on Sunday.
Station manager Mawande Jara said the move came despite a pending court case and many applications to renew the licence, which he said remained unanswered. He said the station had requested seven days to engage with residents before going off air.
“From 2018 we have been in communication with Icasa about the renewal of our broadcasting licence, but most of the time they had been unresponsive. When our licence was due to expire, an application was made, six months before, and this is contained in the court papers submitted.
“While some of the responses were received after the licence expired, no communication to cease broadcasting was received.
“However, we suspect that our frequency has been promised or given to someone else. In 2019, we were shocked when we saw our 98.2 frequency was gazetted and open for application, which we also applied but were also rejected,” Jara said.
Jara said when the 28-year-old station closes down on Wednesday, 64 employees would be unemployed, businesses would lose their platform to network and market while young people would lose a training centre.
Jara said the station management would engage with the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and political parties for intervention.
Icasa was approached for comment but did not respond by the time of publication.
Khayelitsha Development Forum chairperson Ndithini Thyido said they supported the call to save the station as it was a noble course in defence of the rights of the poorest sections of the society who depended on the station for information, education and entertainment.
The EFF in the metro said it refused to allow Icasa to be used as a political tool to silence progressive discussions around GBV and politics by political leaders who had been exposed on the radio station’s platform.