Community radio stations help to expose local corruption By Melody Emmett
What emerged when Corruption Watch partnered with community radio stations in Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and Gauteng to investigate corruption in local communities? Distrust and contempt for the government and police, and a hotbed of rage and despair.
“Sometimes the community does mob justice,” said Welcome Nkosi, a young producer with Voice of Hope FM in Mpumalanga. “Although this is not something I am proud of as a community man, if the police are not helping, the community takes the matter into their own hands. It can happen unexpectedly. The community will deal with you. They will burn you down; sometimes they burn your house; sometimes they burn you; sometimes they beat you up. There is no justice in our police sector, so the community says if the police don’t come, you are dead; if they come, you will survive.”
Nkosi took part in a partnership with Corruption Watch to investigate perceptions about corruption in communities, and raise awareness about the role of the organisation in stamping out corruption.
“The police take a long time to show up,” said Lady Ocean, a presenter at Alfred Nzo FM in the Eastern Cape. “So the people, like the taxi people in Mount Ayliff, take the law into their own hands. They beat you to death with sjamboks and sticks and belts. The police only arrive later. In Matatiele there is a place called Khoapa where there is lots of theft, lots of killing, people being shot and stabbed. The police don’t do anything, so they beat you up, they hang you, kill you.”
The partnership during lockdown between July and October involved a call-in facility to allow people to air their views, though most underresourced stations rely on WhatsApp and social media to interact.
Each slot had an interview with Corruption Watch co-ordinator Mzwandile Banjathwa. “We tailored all the engagements per province, so that they could see how much corruption there is in different sectors,” Banjathwa said. Programmes were broadcast in English, isiZulu, Sesotho, isiXhosa, isiNdebele, siSwati and other languages.
Police corruption takes the form of jobs for pals, opportunistic alliances with government officials, taxi bosses and businessmen; sextortion; excessive use of power; smuggling of alcohol, narcotics and contraband such as cigarettes during the Covid-19 feeding frenzy; protection of criminals and crime syndicates; and taking bribes from perpetrators of wrongdoing.
Ordinary members of the community were ignored or disrespected, stations heard.
“People who are well known can bribe and the poor can’t bribe,” Lady Ocean said.
“There is no conclusion of cases. Most cases just disappear. There’s no closure,” added Alfred Nzo FM’s Avela Theni.
In Mpumalanga, people had to pay police at road blocks to reach their destination during lockdown.
Kgopotso Chawane, a presenter at TUT FM in Soshangwe, described an unholy alliance between local police and a tavern owner who converted a township patrol office, meant to protect the community, into a bar.
Covid-19 gave criminal groups or corrupt actors in the police, business, health and local government carte blanche to exploit fear, confusion, and lack of information.
Malixole Teketa, a presenter at Vukani FM in Chris Hani District, said: “Our municipalities in this district are corrupt to the core. Even today there are protests at the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality.” Others cited are Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality and Sakhisizwe Local Municipality in Cala.
Banjathwa said there had been abuse of relief put in place by the state ranging from the temporary employer/employee relief scheme to the R350 distress relief grants.
In Mpumalanga, those who were politically affiliated got food parcels. “They say: Colleagues, there’s food! ... But those vulnerable communities who are poor because they are not part of any political structure didn’t receive any food,” said Nkosi.
Chawane was inundated with calls, mainly from women unable to access promised food parcels and emergency relief.
Alfred Nzo FM presenter Aviwe Batyi said hospital staff were accused of stealing medication and selling it in remote communities.
Corruption has particular implications for women victims of violence and unemployed youth. Pleas for protection or intervention from police by abused women are ignored, sometimes because perpetrators pay bribes. On some occasions, women are raped by the police they report rape to.
The youth claim that jobs advertised in government departments are given to political affiliates, family and friends; business proposals are “stolen”, and national government agencies claiming to support the youth are disinterested and incompetent.
“Community media has to deal with the tension of exposing people they know and work with and making sure that people know what is going on. It is a vastly more complex and nuanced scenario than we have in our bigger urban areas,” said William Bird from Media Monitoring Africa.
For Corruption Watch, working with the stations was rewarding but tough. “You need to be extremely deliberate when working with community radio stations,” said media spokesperson Phemelo Khaas. “It’s hard to get feedback without following up, explaining the content, and giving instructions. You find that all the producers share one computer and most of the time their telephones don’t work. Lack of resources and capacity really hinders their ability to work efficiently.”
With the 2021 local government elections around the corner, resourcing and capacitating community stations is vital.
So the people, like the taxi people ... They beat you to death with sjamboks and sticks and belts