Western Cape’s biggest community radio Zibonele FM back on the air on temporary licence

Community radion Zibonele FM is back on air on a temporary licence.

• Khayelitsha-based Zibonele FM has been granted a temporary licence.
• The station was in July forced to cease normal broadcasting amid a drawn-out licencing dispute with Icasa.
• Its current Special Event licence, which started on 1 September, is only valid for 45 days – but Zibonele is determined to stay on the air.
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Zibonele FM, which was in July forced to only broadcast over the DStv bouquet after it found itself without a licence, is back on the airwaves thanks to a temporary permit.

The popular Khayelitsha-based community radio was in July forced by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) to cease broadcasting over its allocated frequency in a protracted battle over the renewal of its licence. 

The administrative slip-up saw the popular station lodge an urgent application – unsuccessfully – to halt the regulator from proceeding with the action. While Zibonele sought alternative platforms for broadcasting, thousands of listeners lost access. 

The chairperson of Zibonele’s board of directors, Mthuthuzeli Vellem, said the 20-year-old station went back to broadcasting on Thursday after it acquired a Special Event licence. The licence allows it to broadcast for 45 days.

“On 1 September we were back on air as normal after Icasa granted us a temporary licence,” he said.

He said the station intended to continue operating on a special licence until its application for a normal licence was approved. A community broadcasting licence allows operators to broadcast for four years.

Wellem had said Zibonele had made its licence renewal application to Icasa on 25 June and that they were taken aback when the regulator took them off the air. But Icasa said the station failed to provide proof that its renewal application was submitted before the expiry date of its licence.

READ | Tears flow as Western Cape’s biggest community radio Zibonele FM pulled off air in licence drama

Wellem said Zibonele was awaiting the outcome of the community broadcast licence application and would soon begin the process of applying for another special event licence.

“This is the process that we are going to follow in order to prevent being cut off again. We are going to operate on a special event licence until we are granted a normal community broadcasting licence,” he said.

Zibonele largely broadcasts in isiXhosa and is a source of news and entertainment for several communities around the City of Cape Town, including its base, Khayelitsha. Data by the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa shows that it is the biggest community radio station in the Western Cape, with 187 000 listeners.