Across South Africa, an emerging trend is taking shape. Government departments and state entities are increasingly establishing their own podcast platforms to “communicate directly” with citizens.
While this may appear innovative and modern, it presents a serious and potentially damaging threat to community radio, a sector that is legally recognised, regulated, and historically supported as a vehicle for grassroots communication and job creation.
Institutions such as the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the Department of Health, and even South African Police Service (SAPS) have begun investing in digital broadcast-style content distributed via podcast platforms and social media channels. While public communication is their mandate, the method being adopted raises legal, economic, and ethical questions.
Legislative Mandate: Community Media Must Be Supported
The Broadcasting Act (Act No. 4 of 1999) explicitly recognises community broadcasting as a distinct and essential tier within South Africa’s broadcasting system. It promotes diversity of ownership, public access to information, and community participation. Community radio stations operate under licenses issued by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) in terms of the Electronic Communications Act (Act No. 36 of 2005).
These frameworks were created precisely to ensure that information reaches grassroots communities through regulated, accountable, and locally rooted media platforms. Nowhere in the ICASA Act (Act No. 13 of 2000) or the Broadcasting Act is there provision for ordinary government departments to establish and operate independent broadcast platforms outside of the licensing framework. If a state entity wishes to broadcast, it must do so within the established regulatory regime, not parallel to it.
Undermining Job Creation and Grassroots Media
Community Media/Radio stations are not merely information platforms; they are employment catalysts. In provinces like the Free State, stations typically operate with 20–35 volunteers who could easily transition into permanent positions if consistent advertising and government airtime procurement were prioritised. When government departments abandon purchasing airtime and instead redirect resources into in-house podcasts, they effectively remove revenue streams that sustain:
Journalists
Presenters
Technical producers
Field reporters
Administrative personnel
Marketing teams
Young graduates seeking media experience
The consequence? Job losses, weakened stations, and the erosion of a sector meant to empower young people and local economies.
Unequal Competition: Government Cannot Compete With Itself
Government departments operate on publicly funded budgets that community radio stations can never match. When these departments begin creating their own media platforms, they are not merely communicating, they are competing against entities they are mandated to support. This creates an uneven playing field e.g:
Government controls the message.
Government controls the budget.
Government avoids regulatory scrutiny applicable to licensed broadcasters.
Over time, this may signal preparation to marginalise or render community media irrelevant. If departments can speak directly to citizens without buying airtime, what incentive remains to invest in regulated community broadcasters?
Regulation Matters
Community radio is accountable to ICASA. It must adhere to:
Local content quotas
Governance standards
Annual compliance reporting
Community participation structures
Government-run podcasts, however, fall outside this structured oversight. They are not bound by broadcasting license conditions, public complaint procedures through the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa, or content diversity obligations.This creates a troubling precedent: unregulated state communication bypassing the very framework designed to ensure transparency, fairness, and plurality.
Why Government Must Backtrack
Government must reconsider this trajectory for several reasons:
Legal Integrity – Broadcasting policy was never designed for departments to operate parallel media platforms outside licensing frameworks.
Economic Justice – Redirecting funds from community radio to in-house productions undermines employment and youth development.
Democratic Accountability – Independent, regulated media ensures scrutiny and diversity; state-controlled channels centralise messaging.
Policy Consistency – It contradicts the developmental mandate embedded in the Broadcasting Act.
If government truly seeks to reach citizens effectively, the most sustainable approach is to strengthen existing community radio… purchase airtime, fund capacity building, and support infrastructure upgrades. Community radio stations are not obstacles.
They are partners in democracy. Abandoning them in favour of departmental podcasts risks weakening grassroots communication, undermining employment, and eroding the spirit of media plurality that South Africa fought hard to build. Government must backtrack. Not because innovation is wrong, but because regulated, community-driven media remains the most inclusive and democratically accountable vehicle to reach our people.
*Duncan Sinthumule is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Metsimaholo Fm.
