Residents of the remote rural community of Heuningvlei in the Northern Cape will now have access to radio and television for the first time, following a government initiative.
Unveiled at a recent Imbizo by the minister of communications, Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, the initiative forms part of the SABC's vision of Broadcasting for Total Citizenship Empowerment, which aims to ensure rural communities have access to its broadcast services.
The initiative, which is a partnership between the Department of Communications, the SABC and Sentech, is the result of a commitment made by Matsepe-Casaburri at a previous Imbizo. The minister, who switched on television and radio transmitters at the Kgalagadi Nodal Point, said South Africans were living in a participatory democracy and access to information was important.
She added that without access to television and radio services, a participatory democracy was not possible, and many South Africans were still not able to receive the services offered by the SABC.
The initiative, she said, also forms part of the SABC's unveiling of a lower power transmitter initiative to extend its services more rapidly and cost-effectively to remote areas.
Speaking at the Imbizo, SABC chairperson Khanyisiwe Mkonza said the broadcaster believed all South Africans had a democratic right to access any information that affects their lives.
“We are glad that we are here today to enhance information accessibility. We work according to our capacity to make sure people have access to our services and to make sure they participate in our democratic SA,” she said.
The initiative aims to provide another 66 villages in the Northwest of the province with access to television and radio programmes.
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