No more backroom broadcasting for Bhongweni FM

By ANDILE MOSHOESHOE

The Cock-a-doodle-do sound made by roosters when they crow which is universally understood to be a sign of day break, however for the local online radio station, Bhongweni FM, these sounds were an unwanted thorn as these noises would permeate during broadcasting.

But thanks to the Greater Kokstad Municipality, such intrusions are a thing of the past as the online radio station has been allocated a space to operate in, rent free and with 24-hour security.

The online radio station was hosted in a bedroom in one of the houses in Horseshoe Township in Kokstad. The staff attached to the station have unequivocally stated that the disruptions by chickens and lack of safety of vehicles of guests when visiting the station were largely topmost challenges to their efforts of growing the station and taking it to new frontiers.

The guests would leave their vehicles quite a distance away to be on air and share important information, updates and educational material with our listeners, which posed an unwanted security threat.

Those were some of the challenges that grabbed the Municipality attention, as the staff will get proper training from neighbouring Matatiele Community Radio.

Kokstad Mayor, Bheki Mtolo took it upon himself to give them a suitable place at the Kokstad Skills Centre to run the station.

“I wouldn’t let the future of young presenters go down the drain and it is a reason why I made this my project with the assistance from the Communications Department,” he said.

The station’s founder, Siphelele Noyila (25) who saved his truck-driving monthly salary to buy equipment has conveyed words of gratitude to the municipality.