Pietermaritzburg - Provincial government communicators in KwaZulu-Natal need to forge links with community media to effectively inform local residents about the work of government, says Chairperson of the Kwazulu-Natal community radio hub, Simon Ntsele.
Ntsele aired his views during Communications Minister Faith Muthambi’s Ministerial Outreach Programme in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal on Friday.
“As a one-stop shop for all community radio stations in this province, our view is that the job is not done until it is communicated with the people,” he said.
Registered as a non-profit organisation and established in 2000, the community radio hub is an affiliate of the national community radio forum in the province, led by seven elected board members.
Ntsele said from the 23 community radio stations in the province, 15 on air, three recently renewed their licences to be back on air soon, five granted new licences, but they are still waiting for their equipment.
He said the overall listenership for all the stations was 1.3 million listeners, with the Izwi lo Mzansi station - housed in Durban - leading with a listenership of 190 000.
Asked about the significance of their meeting with Minister Muthambi, Ntsele said it was important to have a minister who engaged with stakeholders directly to hear about their challenges.
“To us, it was long overdue to get a Minister who is committed to transform the face of community media not only in our province, but across the country. While we strongly believe that she will deal with our challenges, we urge everyone to give support her.”
Ntsele said they had a good working relationship with the Premier’s Office, the provincial Department of Communication, eThekwini municipality, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and ICASA.
Sheila Mhlongo, chairperson of Kwazulu-Natal community publisher’s cooperative which was established in 2009, said they were empowering communities by making sure that relevant information reaches everyone as well as creating jobs in the media sector.
“We are appealing to communicators to utilise our platforms when they want to drive major government campaigns in rural communities rather than using the mainstream media.”
Shortly after she assumed her office earlier this year, Minister Muthambi embarked on a massive Ministerial Outreach Programme where she could engage with communicators and representatives of community media across the country.
Speaking to reporters, the Minister said the time had come to adopt a more aggressive stance towards communications.
She added that a meeting was being planned between the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) and Cabinet to ensure there is regular interaction between the leadership of the media and Cabinet. The meeting would discuss issues of mutual concern. - SAnews.gov.za
