Musina FM has gone silent

Musina residents are still baffled by the sudden closure of their local community radio station, Musina FM, without any warning or notice.

The community claim that they have not heard a sound from the station for the past four months, but according to the station management, they only stopped operating in mid-August this year.

“The station closed due to cable theft,” former station manager Selina Phiri explained. “They also stole the radio antenna, and there was no money to replace all these stolen equipment. If the community wants the radio station to resume working, they can start a fundraising campaign with the station’s existing management to raise money to buy new equipment.” Phiri resigned as station manager at the same time the station closed to assume a career in politics.

Justice Langa, who is also part of the radio station’s management, is making an appeal to Musina Municipality to provide security to safeguard the cables and equipment from being vandalised. “Musina FM’s transmitters are in the bush and that area needs to be guarded every day. The previous time when the cables were stolen and replaced, we should have locked the area. Unfortunately, the following day we found the cables vandalised again.” Langa said that the municipality had withdrawn security services in that area two years ago.

In 2019, Limpopo Mirror reported on claims that Musina FM had allegedly been experiencing problems regarding maladministration, mismanagement and the misuse of funds for years, which the said management had denied vehemently.

Former radio presenter Victor Hulumeni said: “We are bombarded by listeners calling us, trying to find out what had happened to the radio station. This is really failing the community. The station has always been a quick medium for relaying informing to the public on matters that affect them.”

Hulumeni congratulated Phiri on her new role as deputy chairperson for the Economic Freedom Fighters in the Vhembe Region.

Community member Eugene Khoza also expressed his concern over the closure of the radio station. “The station belongs to the community, but the board of directors and management distanced themselves from the community. They were running the station without the community, which is totally wrong,” Khoza said. “It is now time for local government elections, and we are missing out on the political campaigning.” Besides this, he said, businesspeople could no longer advertise their products, and the local municipality now found making public announcements difficult.

Wilson Dzebu, spokesperson for Musina Municipality, said the responsibility to safeguard Musina FM’s property was not that of the municipality. “We have done enough for the radio station, and they must also take responsibility. We have given space for operation at no cost. They don’t pay for water, electricity or any other rates.”

Date:16 October 2021

By: Bernard Chiguvare

Bernard Chiguvare is a Zimbabwean-born journalist. He writes mainly for the online publication, Groundup.

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