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Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe
Amakhosi Cultural Centre founder Cont Mhlanga says, if granted a radio licence for a Bulawayo commercial metro radio station, his programming will be divorced from politics and strictly pursue social issues. Mhlanga this week announced his intention to apply for a commercial metro station called “Esabantu” for Bulawayo.
Speaking to The Herald yesterday, Mhlanga said, while he is not at liberty to give out details of the programming before the application has been submitted to the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe, the focus of the station will be local and about the citizens.
“In the market research that we did to find out what people wanted they emphatically said they did not want politics. The message that we got is that people want other things,” he said.
In relation to the positioning of the station versus the existing players, Mhlanga said he believes that Esabantu would not be competition but rather provide a complementary role.
“There is enough room for all of us because we would be satisfying different needs. Bulawayo is a unique place in terms of cultural diversity. There are so many elements here that you cannot put a label and say this is how people in Bulawayo do this.
“Thus I believe that these subtle nuances can only be picked by a station that is fully local. The others are national broadcasters and, if granted a licence, I hope that there would be a synergy and we would actually feed the national issues that come up in our area into the national stations because they serve the country while we would be area specific.”
Mhlanga said the project has its funding plan in place although details of that will again have to wait for submission to BAZ before it can be made public.
“We certainly have the partnerships that we need to fly in place. All I can say at this point is that the partners that we are working with are friends of Amakhosi, all Zimbabweans. This is a fully local project.”
BAZ has set January 7, 2014 as the deadline for applications for the metro radio stations.
Online Reporter