By Victor Mukwevho and Anton van Zyl
The voice of Vhembe FM, one of the region's most popular radio stations, has gone silent. The station was taken off air by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) at the end of July.
The reason for the closure may lie in a long-standing feud between one of the founders, Thendo Percy Mathobo, and the station's current management.
Vhembe FM was licensed in 2015 but only went on air in September 2017 with a few shows because of a lack of funding. The station later applied for a wider broadcasting area, which was granted, and in September 2018 it started a full broadcasting schedule.
The station "went big" and attracted big names in the local broadcasting industry, such as Jimmy "The Scratcher" Netshilulu, Emmanuel Khalushi, Divhani "Flavour" Dagada and Vuledzani "VIP" Pilani, to join the team.
But cracks in management quickly began to show. A power struggle apparently developed between Mathobo and then chairperson of the board Mr Robert Mphephu. The feud spilled into court, with Mathobo accused of breaking into the station's offices and forging signatures.
Unlike private businesses, where one or two strong leaders take control, things are more complicated with non-profit entities. Community radio licences may only be awarded to non-profit entities, where "the community" owns the station. In Vhembe FM's case, the fight for control of the board began to affect the day-to-day running of the station.
As far back as 2021, it was clear the house was divided. When a listener complained to ICASA about a specific show, the Complaints and Compliance Committee could not establish who the station's legitimate representatives were. Mr N. Maluleke, as a member of the interim board, made submissions on behalf of Vhembe FM.
"It transpired that bad blood among key players within the station had led to faction fights and, ultimately, court action," Judge Thokozile Masipa, the committee's chairperson, remarked. Mr Percy Mathobo, acting chairperson of Vhembe FM, and Mr Lawrence Mashau were asked to provide clarity, but none was forthcoming.
In the end, it seemed that the inability to resolve the conflict led to the station's closure.
A senior ICASA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media on behalf of the organisation, said they had done their best to advise Vhembe FM's management to resolve their differences and renew their broadcasting licence.
He said that, officially, Percy Mathobo was recognised as being part of the licence holder for Vhembe FM's frequency. This meant the other board members could not apply for a renewal. "But because of their internal disagreements with the licence holder, they ended up broadcasting without a licence after it had expired," he said.
When asked whether other members of the public could apply for the same broadcasting licence, he said applications for broadcasting licences were closed for this year. However, people can apply for new frequencies from next week.
Regarding whether future licence holders could name their station Vhembe FM, he said they were free to choose any name they wanted. "They could even name it Vhembe FM if they want to. This one is closed for good and, as we speak, it no longer exists," he concluded.
The interim Vhembe FM board did not go down without a fight. In February, an urgent application was filed in the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, seeking to set aside ICASA's decision not to reissue the licence. The court was not impressed and dismissed it for lack of urgency.
"They [Vhembe FM] only responded to [ICASA's] letter on the 29th of September 2024. Indeed, when one looks at these two correspondences it is clear that there was some dragging of … feet by the applicant. There is no urgency in spite of the fact that they were informed that their licence was going to expire on the 31st of January 2025. The applicant did nothing at all, only to wake up on the 30th of January 2025 to attempt to bring this application on urgency on a basis of a clearly, purely self-created urgency," said Acting Justice Yende.
News of the station's closure came as a shock to many, including staff. A presenter at the station, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said most employees were devastated and uncertain about their future. "This station has been our home for many years and our only hope for a future in the broadcasting world," he said.
Meanwhile, Nyumani Nobride Maluleke, who has been managing Vhembe FM since it started broadcasting in 2017, said it was still difficult to come to terms with the fact that they were no longer on air. Speaking to Limpopo Mirror outside the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court on Tuesday afternoon, he said the closure had affected many people.
"I was so heartbroken when two elderly women came to the station with a portable radio, asking us to fix it because they couldn't find the station – unaware that we are no longer broadcasting," he said.
Maluleke was also asked about Vhembe FM's plans to continue broadcasting online, where no licences are required. He said this would be the way forward, but it would not be easy as not many listeners could afford the high cost of data to access online radio.
"But we still hope that we will be back on air soon, as ICASA has broken its own rules regarding the licence renewal," he added. ICASA has previously been criticised for not sticking to rules and selectively applying legislation.
In 2022, Limpopo Mirror reported how ICASA reissued a licence to Makhado FM, which was dysfunctional and being run by an interim board at that stage.
The licence to operate the community radio station was awarded in 2007 to a Section 21 company, Luonde Media Resource Centre (Luonde Media). The original board members, including the controversial "Prof" Alfred Nevhutanda, quickly lost interest and left the staff to fend for themselves.
As a way forward, the staff formed a separate company in 2014 and asked for the licence to be transferred to it. The transfer never happened, and in 2018, ICASA reissued the licence to the original founding Section 21 company, which had already been deregistered.
For several years, Makhado FM was under the control of a for-profit company, which is contrary to its licensing conditions. ICASA appeared to have been well aware of the situation but has not intervened.