The mountain talks
Community radio for Makhado, Musina and the villages between — nine languages on 97.1 FM, and on the stream wherever you have ended up.
What is on nowEverything the station is
There is no newsroom, no sales floor and no boardroom. There is one studio behind the library, a transmitter on the ridge, and sixty-one people who show up.
The morning talk-in
Weekdays 06:00 to 09:00, phones open the whole three hours. The language changes with the day — Tshivenda Monday and Wednesday, Xitsonga Tuesday and Friday, Sepedi Thursday.
The open line
Dial 015 516 0971 and it rings on the desk in front of the presenter. Nobody screens it, nobody puts you on hold, and you go on air in the order you called.
Sixty-one volunteers
Nobody here draws a salary, the station manager included. What the advertising brings in pays the electricity, the ICASA licence and the diesel for the generator, in that order.
Past the transmitter
The signal gives out somewhere beyond Alldays. The stream does not, which is how a night shift in Dubai and a res room in Pretoria still hear the Sunday notices.
18 240
Hours on air since 2004
61
Volunteers on the roster
9
Languages every week
22
Years on 97.1 FM
A week in the studio
Photographed by Lufuno Mudau over seven days in March, including the Thursday the power went and the desk ran three hours off the generator.
From the open line
I do the Musina run twice a week and the signal holds all the way up the pass. When it starts breaking up I know I am nearly at the border post.
My sister died on the Tuesday in Vuwani. It went out on the evening notices and by Thursday the whole family had heard. Nobody had to phone around.
I paid R180 for one spot on the Saturday market show. The bakkie of pumpkins was finished by lunchtime and I had to turn two people away.
The week on air
All times SAST. Public holidays run the Sunday schedule. Times move when a funeral or a match runs long, and we say so on air.
- Mon · 06:00–09:00 · Matsheloni, the morning talk-in in Tshivenda · Rofhiwa Netshiozwi
- Mon · 19:00–21:00 · Die Plaasblok, prices, weather and stock notices in Afrikaans · Hannes Wessels
- Tue · 06:00–09:00 · Mixo, the morning talk-in in Xitsonga · Nkateko Mabunda
- Tue · 18:00–19:00 · Homework Hour, matric maths and science in whatever language the child phones in · Sarah Mulaudzi
- Wed · 06:00–09:00 · Matsheloni, the morning talk-in in Tshivenda · Rofhiwa Netshiozwi
- Wed · 20:00–22:00 · Council Watch, the Makhado agenda read out line by line · Tshifhiwa Ramavhoya
- Thu · 06:00–09:00 · Mesong, the morning talk-in in Sepedi · Kgaugelo Sebola
- Thu · 19:00–21:00 · Border Line, for Musina and Beitbridge, in Shona and Chichewa · Tendai Muchemwa
- Fri · 06:00–09:00 · Mixo, the morning talk-in in Xitsonga · Nkateko Mabunda
- Fri · 21:00–00:00 · Weekend Kickoff, requests only, mostly isiZulu and English, no talking over the songs · DJ Skotch
- Sat · 09:00–12:00 · Saturday Market, buy, sell and swap on air, R180 a spot · Lufuno Mudau
- Sat · 14:00–17:00 · Full Time, live from Makhado Stadium in Tshivenda, isiNdebele and English · Ndivhuwo Tshikalange
- Sun · 07:00–10:00 · Sunday Service, a different congregation each week, carried live from the pews · Mpho Ravhura
- Sun · 18:00–20:00 · Aluwani, hymns, obituaries and family notices in all nine languages · Elelwani Netshifhefhe
The roster has three gaps
Two presenters and somebody who can keep a mixing desk alive. No experience needed, no salary offered, one Saturday of training in the studio behind the library.
Put your name downGet hold of the studio
Studio landline 015 516 0971 · WhatsApp 072 418 3306 · On-air requests 015 516 0972. Somebody is at the desk from 05:30 until 22:00, every day of the year.