Keys To Sustainability: The South African Perspective

Excerpts from the presentation delivered by Thato Mfundisi of ABC Ulwazi at the Third AMARC/AFRICA Pan African Conference in Nairobi, Kenya

One of the issues facing community radio stations in South Africa and perhaps in other parts of Africa as well is the question of sustainability of the community radio stations. The government in South Africa has issued broadcasting licenses to a little over 80 community radio stations, and with some donors, the government has provided studio equipment and training opportunities.

The government, as well as other donors, does not on the whole provide stations with running costs. The rural nature of many of the community radio stations with a listenership that has limited disposable income has made community radio stations less attractive to big business for advertisements, hence limiting that source of revenue for community radio stations. As a coping mechanism, community radio stations depend on volunteer staff, have limited number of programs, broadcast for a fewer hours, and often the quality of the programs is compromised.

For community radio stations like it is for any other organization, sustainability is not much of an option. For the radio station to operate with any degree of certainty, it has to have reliable sources of funding. The transient nature of staff can be reduced significantly by paying the staff market related wages. The retention of staff will slowly allow for the development of a reservoir of expertise in the community radio sector. Being sustainable will also allow the radio stations to have sufficient resources to upgrade equipment and train staff to keep up with rapid technological development experienced in the sector.

The overall impact will be on the continuity of the service the community radio sector provides to the community. The alternative is to have a sector which will slowly grind to a halt for lack of both staff and being overtaken by technological developments in the sector.ABC Ulwazi with the support of a number of donors, has in the last three years, been implementing a sustainability development program for community radio stations. The main objective of the program is to build the capacity and provide support to community radio stations to become sustainable.