The
MDDA Congratulates Inanda FM for going on air!
More voices, more information, more communication
platforms, democracy is benefiting. These are the
words of Lumko Mtimde, the Chief Executive of the
Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) as he
announced the going on air of Inanda FM on Friday
27th March 2009. Inanda FM became operational in 2003,
using a special events license at the Bat Centre,
after Durban Youth Radio closed down.
The
area where the radio station is based is called INK
nodal development area. INK is an acronym that means
Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu, an area designated as
an urban renewal area. The radio was granted a four-year
broadcasting license by ICASA from 30th March 2006
to March 2010 to broadcast to the community of Inanda
and surrounding areas.
Inanda
Community Radio Station’s mandate is to facilitate
development through communication by encouraging dialogue,
so people can participate in their own development.
Inanda FM was licensed by ICASA as part of a group
of about 15 identified community radio frequencies
in the nodal development point areas throughout the
country. These community radio stations were licensed
to add value to the government programme, Integrated
Sustainable Rural Development Plan and Strategy to
ensure that certain areas based in remote rural and
urban centres are prioritized for development processes.
The
radio station is the 4th to go on air in the category
of community radio stations that are based in the
nodal development areas. The first community radio
station to go on air was Alfred Nzo Community Radio,
based in Mount Ayliff in the Eastern Cape in Alfred
Nzo District Municipality. The second was Forte Community
Radio in Amatole District Municipality in the Eastern
Cape. The third is Vibe FM, also situated in KwaMashu
within the Ethekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
“The
MDDA is proud to be associated with Inanda Community
Radio Station. The area carries a very rich historical
background and counts respected leaders such as John
Langalibalele Dube and Mahatma Gandhi as some of its
original residents. Inanda Community Radio Station
was established as a means to breach a gap in the
previously information poor community of Inanda and
must continue to serve as a platform through which
the community can facilitate development processes
and service delivery to its citizens,” says
Mr. Lumko Mtimde, Chief Executive Officer of the MDDA.
The station works closely with community organizations
and is also involved in special projects and outreach
programmes that deal with health, women’s issues,
children and people with disabilities.
MDDA encourages Inanda FM to work closely with policy
makers and other stakeholders in the area, in order
to grow in stature and sustain itself. But most importantly
Inanda FM should stay in touch with its community
and always offer its people a platform to tell their
stories and to help change perspectives.
People need information so that they can participate
fully in democratic issues and Inanda FM is the ideal
tool to take the community of Inanda to higher levels
of achievement. All this is thanks to the community
of INK, thanks to the MDDA, Department of Communications
(DoC) and other supporters of Inanda FM.
Issued by:
MDDA
For further information please contact:
Hariet Mhlanga at (011) 726 3336, www.mdda.org.za
