Community radio not serving people

Independent Newspapers

Communications Minister Dina Pule. Photo: Neil Baynes

Polokwane - Community radio stations are not serving people according to their mandate, Communications Minister Dina Pule said on Thursday.

“Funds invested in the stations are not accounted for and the communities which the stations are intended to serve are never informed about the stations' activities,” Pule told the Community Radio Governance Indaba in Polokwane.

Pule said community radio stations needed to remember that they belonged to the community.

The collapse of corporate governance which motivated the hosting of the two-day conference was of a major concern, she said

She challenged station managers attending the conference on what their stations did to inform communities about xenophophic attacks and service delivery protests that engulfed the country in recent times.

“How many community stations have utilised the content production support provided by the department to create programming that addresses these issues, particularly in educating their communities about their rights in respect of these matters?”

She also questioned the programme adjustment regarding issues of national importance such as August's Women's Month and Heritage Month during September.

“These are fundamental questions that we need to address as we deal with corporate governance at the stations...” - Sapa