On Friday 15 August Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, the South African Deputy Minister
of Communications is visiting two community media outlets in Gauteng. The visit
is a continuation of interactions between communities and stakeholders which
took place between 14 and 20 July during Imbizo Focus Week, an event which
enables Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Premiers and Members of Executive
Councils (MECs) to interact closely with communities in different parts of the
country.
“Community media plays a vital role in ensuring that ordinary members of the
community have access to information on government policies, priorities and
programmes. Government will continue to provide support to expand the
development in community media sector’ said Ndabeni-Abrahams.
A community broadcasting programme was established by government in 1998
and was formed to assist with the establishment of community radio stations
across the country; over R400 million has been invested into the sector.
“Today there are over 140 community radio stations licensed in South Africa and
over 75% of them have received support from government’ said Ndabeni-
Abrahams.
