Mr Takalani Khomola, the acting station manager of Makhado FM, announced last Tuesday that the station has fired Mr Moses Muneri as station manager. This follows several weeks of turmoil at the community radio station where a power struggle played out amidst allegations of theft and corruption.

Khomola warned businesspeople this week to be very careful when dealing with Mr Muneri, who he said was going around town asking for sponsorships. "Muneri is no longer the station manager of Makhado FM," Khomola stressed. According to him, Muneri was suspended before he was eventually fired last week. Khomola added that he was in possession of a letter to fire Muneri, but he claims that the letter could not be handed to Muneri as he was not answering his phone.

Muneri made the news over the past month when he was arrested for allegedly stealing the station's radio transmitter. He appeared in court on January 11 and was released on bail. The case was postponed to Thursday, 26 January. The outcome of the court case was, however, not yet available at the time of going to press.

Attempts to reach Muneri for comment this week were unsuccessful. His cell phone kept on ringing and he did not respond to messages.

Makhado FM has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons on several occasions during the past couple of years. The station managed to build up a huge debt, not paying the landlord and also defaulting on other bills. The outstanding bill for rent was rumoured to be in excess of R700 000. Creditors were at the point of selling the station's equipment to pay the bills at the end of 2011. The creditors included the local municipality, who seemed to have turned a blind eye at the escalating debt.

While the power struggles continued, the station did not succeed in winning the hearts of the listeners. The listenership figures dropped dramatically and currently stand at 23 000 (RAMS for December 2011). This figure, however, presents a total weekly figure, which means that the number of listeners at any given time is a couple of thousand.

The station also came under pressure for not adhering to legal requirements such as having proper annual general meetings where audited financial statements are made available to members of the public. As a Section 21 company, the community radio station is obliged to operate in a transparent manner and involve the local community in its operations.

Attempts to reach Mr Robert Makatu of Icasa were unsuccessful. Icasa is the regulatory body that should see to it that the license conditions are adhered to.