Alex teens on same wavelength against crime
● On her 15th birthday, 19-year-old Monica Maubane’s father was shot dead in taxi violence in Alexandra.
It made her look differently at the crime swamping her neighbourhood — and think about ways to solve it.
She is now part of a group of Alex teens hosting their own award-winning radio show on community radio station Alex FM.
The show, Bigger than Life, is supported by the Children’s Radio Foundation and Gun Free SA, and has been a feature on Alex FM since 2014.
One of the first presenters, Palesa Motaung, said at first only older people called in. “So we told ourselves we needed to work hard to attract young people. We used social media and encouraged our friends at school to listen and engage.”
There’s always an expert with them on the show to handle queries they might not be able to deal with.
They have even managed to rope in the local police, who now give them weekly crime stats.
Station manager Takalani Nemangowe said the group were adding remarkable value to the station. “Their listenership is increasing year on year,” he said, adding that the show recorded the highest number of engagements from listeners.
Michelle Selemela, 17, said: “I love that we are involved in the community and believe our generation will turn things around here. We are part of the community policing forum, which I see as a crucial part in fighting crime in our area.”
On air for an hour each Saturday morning, the 15-member team thoroughly prepare for their show.
Itumeleng Tsheola, a trainer for the Children’s Radio Foundation, said: “We meet on Wednesday afternoons to decide on the content and who will do what. Some will be assigned to do interviews on the streets, while the others will be tasked with securing interviews with a subject-matter expert and the others will be given the task to do research on the topic to be discussed.”
Team member Jennifer Ngobeni, 16, said: “We can’t afford to go on a show unprepared. We have to know what we’re talking about.”