Jozi bridges digital divide over the air

THE CITY of Joburg has launched its long-awaited online radio station, Joburg Pulse FM, in an aim to close the digital divide in this city.

The city announced on Friday that the online radio station was launched at the Ivory Park Emthonjeni Taxi Rank on Thursday to close the gap of the digital divide in the city.

“This powerful form of content aims to close down communication barriers by reaching out to more residents,” the city said.

The radio station’s line-up currently has two slots, which include a morning show, Rise Up eGoli, between 8am and 10am and an afternoon drive show, Good Afternoon Jozi, which airs from 3pm until 5pm.

“Residents will now not only communicate with the city on social media, but will engage live and direct to cover everything regarding the City of Joburg from service delivery, wanting to know your city council better and promoting small business enterprise,” said Joburg Pulse’s presenter Lwando Mbelu.

Another excited presenter for the online radio station is Jurgen van Lill, who conducted the station’s first interview with MMC of Economic Development, Lawrence Khoza.

“Radio is good and very relevant as we are moving to a digital age, which is the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Radio has a way of reaching diverse people,” Van Lill said.

The radio presenter interviewed Khoza on the importance of 120 days of accelerated service delivery and highlighted some of the service delivery achievements and how the city was creating opportunities to empower the youth.

City of Joburg mayor Geoff Makhubo, also at the radio launch said: “I am delighted that we have taken this leap as Johannesburg by launching this online radio station as digital is the future,” Makhubo said.

The mayor added that Joburg was one of the first cities in Africa to introduce an online radio station to communicate its messages and engage with its citizens.

“In terms of service delivery we are setting a new standard. There will be reviews in these 120 days from each ward to identify service delivery challenges and find solutions,” he said.

Makhubo also addressed the importance of being visible to City of Joburg residents and that Ivory Park had to be part of the urban system.

“We have to turn it into ivory,” the mayor said.

The city added that the mayor and members of the mayoral committee also went out to communicate with residents in the region about their service delivery issues.