The very popular Makoya 7/11 show on Makhado FM will in all likelihood be off the air from the end of October. Negotiations between Zoutnet, owner of the show, and Makhado FM have reached a stalemate situation and the chances of the parties´ finding common ground in the next two weeks are extremely slim.

Zoutnet entered into an agreement with Luonde Media Resources, owners of the Makhado FM radio licence, in October 2009. According to the agreement, the publisher takes over the 07:00 to 11:00 slot every weekday morning. A team of presenters was appointed and a separate broadcasting studio was set up at Zoutnet’s office in Joubert Street. Zoutnet took responsibility for all production costs and focussed on producing a high-quality show aimed at a cross-cultural sector of the community.

The morning show made a huge impact on the radio station’s listenership figures. Within five months the figures jumped from 18 000 in November 2009 to 56 000 in April 2010. The recipe of popular music, talk shows and fresh local news seemed to work.

“Our own investment in Makhado FM amounted to more than R750 000 over the past year,” says Anton van Zyl, manager of Zoutnet. This amount includes direct payments of well over R500 000. “In spite of this, the community radio station’s financial position did not seem to improve. Presenters at Makhado FM continued to complain about not getting paid. We had no insight in the day-to-day running of the radio station and could not make any input,” says Anton.

When negotiations started in September this year, Zoutnet accused Makhado FM of not running the station in a transparent manner, as its licensing agreement prescribes. Zoutnet asked for minutes of the past year’s general meetings as well as audited financial statements.

This request was refused by Makhado FM and the station denied that it was in contravention of its licensing agreement. “Makhado FM and Zoutnet entered into a commercial agreement, where Makhado FM sold air-time to Zoutnet. The contract signed between the two organisations does not give the one party the right to dictate to the other how it should run its operations. Much as Makhado FM has never told Zoutnet who to employ and how much it should pay its Makoya presenters per month, Zoutnet cannot, and should not, order Makhado FM what to do with the money it receives from Zoutnet,” Mr Moses Muneri, station manager of Makhado FM, states in a letter dated 14 September.

Anton van Zyl disagrees with this and reckons Makhado FM must be fully accountable to the community within which they function. “Makhado FM opted to apply for a community radio licence, which means that they are subsidised by taxpayers’ money and they should serve the interests of that specific community. They must include all sectors of the community and report back to them during general meetings,” he says. “To try and compare a private company to a community radio station makes no sense. If Makhado FM wants to be exclusive, they should have applied for a commercial licence,” he says.

Mr Muneri was adamant that the board of directors of Makhado FM are elected democratically at an annual general meeting (AGM). “Makhado FM has never failed to hold its AGM. It is, therefore, not true that Makhado FM has not complied with its licence conditions. At no point has the regulator complained or indicated failure to comply with the licence conditions. We, therefore, do not understand why Zoutnet believes that we have not been transparent and accountable,” says Mr Muneri.

In a letter dated 22 September, Zoutnet calls upon Makhado FM to provide proof of this. “If, as you stated in your letter, you complied with the licensing conditions, there would be no problem providing us with the minutes of the (at least) two general meetings per annum with the community and the AGM,” the letter reads.

As a way forward, Zoutnet suggested that Makhado FM obtain a letter of compliance from Icasa. At the time of going to press, no such letter was made available.