Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - November 25, 2005
Kwanele Sosibo
Armed with a special events broadcasting permit to coincide with World Aids Day, Soweto Community Television is embarking on a UHF free-to-air broadcast that ends on December 20.
Operating on a shoestring budget, the station has now received generous donations from sources including Air Time Outside Broadcasting, loveLife and the Film Resource Unit.
The station, which will broadcast from Dobsonville shopping centre, will reach most of Gauteng. Its programming, which will run from 3pm to 11pm daily, will be anchored by a strong HIV/Aids focus, local issues and culture. It will feature English news on weekdays at 6pm, African language news at 8.30pm, independent documentaries and nightly feature films.
Head of programming Meril Rasmussen promised sleek programming with commercial appeal - an obvious attempt to woo advertisers. "We are more about building trust and making space for people to be creative, rather than bossing people around," he adds.
Rasmussen says there is still room for residents to participate in the project. "People can come and see what they think needs to be done and see where they fit in. Also, if anybody has made feature films or dramas they are welcome to bring them and we'll flight them."
The station will run a programme called So We Talk, in which it will send a roaming camera into the surrounding neighbourhoods to canvass public opinion about why the country has such a high rate of HIV infection.
Soweto Community Television has existed for four years but was only registered as a section 21 company last year.
Station CEO Tshepo Thafeng said that part of his motivation to start the station was to open up training opportunities for aspiring broadcasting enthusiasts. "I come from a community radio background. I didn't have money to study broadcasting so I got involved in Soweto Community Radio when community radio was introduced in South Africa. I joined in 1993 as a publicity coordinator and I learnt a lot from there."
Thafeng said that a big inspiration in starting the project was Greater Durban Television, a community station that has broadcast frequently and has been running since 1995.
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