REMARKS BY PREMIER
Master of ceremonies
His Highness Inkosi Shongwe and members of the Royal Family
His worship the Mayor Khumalo
Mr. Peter Mathlare
SABC management and staff
Umphakathi wase Mbuzini
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen.
Let me from the outset thank the organisers of this event and the leaders and people of this area most humbly for having invited us to this occasion
An event that signals another giant step in the public broadcaster's mandate to serve all the communities of this country. In particular extending the footprint of the Pride of the Nation - LIGCABHO LESIVE - to this important constituency.
I am sure you will agree with me when I say radio is one of our most important means of communication.Whereas in the past radio was mostly used as a disinformation and misinformation tool,
it is today used as an important vehicle for activating community participation in the running of its affairs and other important political and developmental processes.
The SABC has changed a lot in the past few years. That is why it is able to hold its own in the marketplace of ideas, entertainment and information.
Ligwalagwala likewise has changed. From a Pretoria-based station it has now firmly rooted itself amongst the people it serves. Reading through the profile of your station, Mr. Ngwenya, I was struck by a few issues. But let me first point out that I do not believe that what is contained in your profile is pure Public Relations stuff.
I know it comes from the heart because I have been interacting with your station now for well over two years. For instance I believe you when you say Ligwalagwala provides resourceful information and entertainment in a participatory manner.
It is true that the language diversity of the Mpumalanga Province listeners is catered for by the utilisation of multilingual presenters, and a presentation style that accommodates community participation in programmes whilst maintaining the siSwati identity of the station.
It is no secret that a lot of our people own radio sets which means that this instrument we call the wireless is by far the most accessible of all media.
The great advantage of an aural medium lies in the sound of the human voice - the warmth, the compassion, the anger, the pain and laughter.
A voice is capable of conveying so much more than reported speech. It has inflection and accent, hesitation and pause, a variety of emphasis and speech. But what is required in order not to abuse this medium?
The first is objectivity. Some declare it to be impossible, others that it is unnecessary.
But the basis of news and current affairs must always be, firstly, to separate the reporting of events (news) from the discussion of issues and comment (current affairs), and secondly, to give both sides of an argument.
There is also the issue of intelligibility. Conveying immediate meaning with clarity and brevity is a task which requires refinement of thought and facility with words.
As producers please say whatever you want to say in simple terms without recourse to scientific, commercial, legal, governmental or social gobbledygook, which so often surrounds the giving of information.
Something else, radio producers must be impartial.
The producer does not select “victims” and hound them – does not ignore those views he or she dislikes – he or she does not pursue vendettas, nor have favourites.
Finally programmes have a responsibility to abide by the generally accepted standards of what listeners would regard as good taste. That is why I am today appealing to you to observe the above-mentioned principles in whatever you do.
If you fail to do so you will most certainly render yourself irrelevant in the building of this new democracy. But please don't misunderstand me to be saying that you should be lapdogs of the provincial government.
All I am saying is that report on developmental issues with the same zeal you do a story of alleged corruption in a department. Do not compromise. There are many stories that need to be told. Tell them.
Ligwalagwala must make the province a better place. That can happen in all sorts of ways. Afterall, our people believe in the positive power of radio. But then this belief must extend to ensuring that the astonishing educational power of radio should be available to everyone in society, every child, and every adult who wants to take advantage of it, not just the better-off.
And it's about the belief that everyone should be empowered to take part in the great national discussion about our future, armed with facts and judgements which they know come, not from some marketing machine, but from an impartial source they can really trust.
These values, a commitment to talent and quality, a conviction that radio can be a force for good and that that good should be available for all audiences, aren't obsolete or old-fashioned.
They're more relevant than ever. But I believe we will only be able to deliver them if we confront the need for change. So we need to be brave All of us understand that radio is changing, and changing profoundly.
There are plenty of people out there who believe that the whole point of public broadcasting is not to change, to be a still point in a changing world, a kind of gold standard of quality and constancy.
People like this - and there are plenty of them in the programme-making community as well as the outside world - tend to look back to radio of the past.
They are not optimistic about the future. They believe that any change is almost bound to be for the worse. They are wrong. And we should proof them wrong.
Let us strive, through our programming, to show the skeptics amongst us that we will continue changing Ligwalagwala to become the voice of local communities.
I thank you.