At the southernmost part of South Africa is a rare treasure and much-loved children’s resource, RX Radio. The radio station describes itself as “by and for children” and is based at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.
The station’s mission is to spread positivity, create awareness about health conditions, share news stories and provide entertainment around the clock to comfort its many listeners — patients in hospital wards.
But this may all come to an end if the radio station doesn’t get funding.
It recently launched a crowdfunding campaign under the moniker “Save RX Radio” and at the time of writing, had raised close to R20 000 from more than 10 donors. A private donor from the United States has committed to donating $30 000 (R450 000) for 2023.
But this is not nearly enough.
RX Radio, which has been operating as an NGO since 2019, needs to raise R2.2 million by the end of the year to secure operational costs for the next 12 months. Without this, the station could face indefinite closure.
RX Radio Station
Founded in 2016, the 24-hour radio station provides live and pre-recorded programmes and has trained close to 150 reporters aged four to 18. RX Radio station manager Noluyolo “Yolie” Ngomani says that about 80% of the young broadcasters are children living with chronic conditions and disabilities.
The station aims to allow its reporters to “dream beyond their circumstances”, and not limit themselves to their conditions, Ngomani said in a press release.
One such reporter is 13-year-old Lilah Davies, a grade seven learner who has been with the station for almost a year.
Lilah is a showbiz enthusiast and anti-bullying activist, who was a victim of bullying early on in her life. She first learned about the station when she was interviewed for one of the shows on RX Radio. After the show, Lilah says she researched what it takes to be a reporter, and later asked the station if she oould join the team. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Lilah says when she first listened to RX Radio, she found it “cool” that her peers were doing something usually associated with adults. “Everyone behaved professionally, but they were still fun and youthful, which was interesting to me.”
What attracted her most to the station was that she could learn from other people, gain new experiences, and get the support she needed in her journey as a broadcaster.
She said that before learning about RX Radio, she was not aware of broadcasting platforms that advocated for children’s values — media that not only educates people about living with children who have disabilities — but a far-reaching voice for the overall difficulties the children face daily.
“RX Radio is doing something quite unique, and it also shows that there aren’t enough people doing this. Hearing about the world from children and how we think about things is important because we are the future after all, and it’s just better for us to take charge earlier,” Lilah said.
But all this could come to an end if the station does not secure the funding that it needs to remain operational.
Funding crisis unpacked
Before 2019, the radio station was funded by the hospital’s trust, and thereafter, the station moved in a different direction, hoping to secure more funders, says Ngomani. This coincided with the global Covid-19 pandemic, which would leave many industries in distress.
“Covid-19 has negatively affected a lot of NGOs because corporations have changed their funding models due to the economic impact of the pandemic. Much of the focus quickly turned to Covid-19 relief, and the funding landscape for other projects changed drastically. Funders now prefer time bound projects over long-term projects,” she said.
Ngomani added that as a result, the team running the station — four full-time staff members, an intern, a mentor and volunteers — has had to make sacrifices to keep things going. This included salary cuts and a larger scope of work, at times outside their field, to raise awareness about their plight.
What the future holds
Procuring a low power frequency modulation broadcasting licence from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has been overshadowed by the station’s financial situation, because everyone’s efforts are being channelled towards securing the funds to remain on air.
Should they overcome this and keep RX Radio going, the station hopes to secure a national licence from the regulatory body to make the station accessible not only in Cape Town, but in the rest of South Africa.
“Our nation needs more education on how to live with children who have chronic conditions. There is a lot of enlightening that needs to happen in that regard because that can really bring to the fore children living with disabilities who are usually side-lined,” says Ngomani.
Lilah says that the station has become a big part of her life and its closure would leave a void not only for her but for fellow broadcasters, hospital patients, their families and the broader RX Radio community.
“I have been doing my own show and advocacy campaigns against bullying. If the station were to shut down, it would leave quite a big gap in my life, so it’s not something that I am ready to let go yet.
“I have only been here for about a year now but to think about some of my friends who have been here since the station was founded, it would have a bigger impact on them when I think of the work and effort we all put into this project.”
To keep RX Radio going for Davies, and others like her, you can support its campaign by donating at https://www.backabuddy.co.za/save-rx-radio.
This story, which was produced as part of the 2022 Wits Centre for Journalism’s ‘Reporting on Children in the Media’ course, was made possible with support and guidance from Media Monitoring Africa and Unicef.
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