Feature on community radio

Community radio is poised to challenge the Swazi government’s monopoly on electronic media, with widespread support among the local population. Lubombo Community Radio, the first venture, is expected to serve the country's poorest region, where developmental programmes are converging to bring much needed poverty alleviation. "We are part of that development," station manager Ambrose Zwane told IRIN. "Our service will be a template for other community radio initiatives throughout the country. But, for now, we felt the Lubombo region is the most in need of communications development." Bordering Mozambique and isolated from the rest of the country by the Lubombo plateau, the region has been hard hit by a food shortage brought on mainly by drought. Of the one-third of the nation currently without food and dependent on assistance from the World Food Programme, the majority live in the Lubombo region. "I can think of several uses for community radio, such as alerting people about food distribution points and times, weather information so people can prepare to collect rainwater, crop planting alerts for farmers, not to mention personal family information that has to be quickly disseminated in a place where there aren't a lot of phones," said aid worker Cynthia Lushaba. Residents may not have phones, but chances are they have radios. Ninety percent of Swazis own radios, according to a recent government survey. "Community radio is an important part of government's ICT (information and communications technology) policy," Mntonzima Dlamini, Swaziland’s education minister, told IRIN. As the country’s previous information minister, Mntonzima helped draft the ICT policy. "We are granting Lubombo Community Radio a special license to commence broadcasting until enabling legislation is passed by parliament." Test broadcasts were successful, bringing listener response from all points within the 80 km radius of the broadcast signal, generated from the transmission tower of the station’s main studio in Siteki. Located near Mozambique in eastern Swaziland, Siteki was once a thriving town but closure of the nearby border post during Mozambique’s lengthy civil war brought economic decline. "I was born in the Lubombo [area], and it is good to start a national initiative here," said Zwane, 36, an accountant by profession and father of three. The station is rewarding volunteers with jobs as professional broadcasters in an area that has never had local media of any kind. "We are operating mostly with volunteers. This really is community radio - we have eleven satellite stations in all chiefdoms of the region, which feed directly to the main studio," Zwane commented. Once on the air, the station will broadcast from five a.m. to midnight. Filling 133 hours a week with programming is a daunting task. "We will succeed because the people will use the radio like a giant telephone to talk to everyone else," said Amos, a staff volunteer at the station. He is one of many young people who will receive broadcasting experience in the only place it is available outside of the government radio service in the capital, Mbabane. "Swazis love to talk about themselves. We love to talk to each other. Swazis are their own best entertainment," he told IRIN. "We will specialise in developmental issues, particularly health because of the major AIDS problem in Swaziland. Agriculture will also be a key subject because the Lubombo is entirely a farming area, with a few game parks," said Zwane. A phone-in radio programme will be attempted - callers without access to phones can pose questions at one of the eleven satellite studios. Authorities ended a phone-in programme at the state-owned Swaziland Broadcast and Information Service (SBIS), after callers from banned political parties managed to get anti-government statements on the air. However, Zwane is not concerned about censorship."This is the people's radio station, and they will use it as they like. They will have a real interest in seeing that it succeeds," he said. He added that the station would not shy away from political issues. "We want to stimulate debate about the draft constitution. People will use us to express their views." News bulletins scattered throughout the broadcast schedule will have 60 percent local content, 20 percent national news, and 20 percent international. The primary language will be SiSwati, with some English. "We will also be speaking Portuguese in the future. Already our signal goes into Mozambique. We want to extend our signal to all of the Lubombo region, and that also means further into Mozambique. Our area is where the two countries converge, and we want to stimulate a cross-border flow of information," Zwane said. The Lubumbo Spatial Development Initiative entered into by Mozambique, South African and Swaziland is intended to promote development in the mountain range shared by the three nations. The area has lagged economically despite exceptional natural beauty, ripe for tourism, and has suffered from drought. Lubombo Community Radio is being financed by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, an international donor agency dedicated to the promotion of democratic institutions in region, and the use of media to enhance development and good governance. Advertisers have already committed to the station, which hopes to become self-sufficient through revenue from commercials.