Gustav Thiel : In your ear
Punt Geselsradio’s claim that it is the first Afrikaans talk radio station in the world is much the same as saying that Pretoria University is the biggest Afrikaans university in the world. ”Firstness” is after all a relative concept.
But when this new station hits the air in Gauteng and the Western Cape – it will indeed be worth a listen. It strives to be controversial in a medium where middle-of- the-road often reigns supreme. For the first time, Afrikaans will be the main medium of broadcast of an independent commercial radio station, operating in an increasingly competitive market. It has also chosen the challenging medium of talk radio.
The managing director Andre Potgieter is a controversial media figure who readily admits ”that I like to stir trouble”. He wants his station to go a long way ”towards freeing Afrikaans of a lot of the negative tags” that it had to cope with because of its association with apartheid. ”I must state clearly that we will allow our presenters complete editorial freedom and that we consequently will not endorse any party political line,” he says.
Does the fact that ex-National Party luminary Pik Botha was invited to be one of the station’s presenters not indicate that Potgieter is protesting his desire to avoid ideological baggage too loudly.
”Certainly not,” he assures, ”it is more for his knowledge of women that we have employed him.” This, presumably, is also the reason Piet Koornhof will present a Sunday show about ”the good old days”.
Potgieter admits that he tried to convince other ”high profile” Afrikaners to join Punt Geselsradio. Three stars of the popular Franz Marx soapie Egoli have decided to use their ”clout”, as David Rees put it, to ”heighten the visibility of the station”. Rees is joined by Brumilda van Rensburg and Tiffany Kelly.
Potgieter says he likes the Egoli stars ”because they are bold, confident and courageous people”.
Other well-known voices recruited by Punt include Soli Philander, Alvin Bruinders, Randall Wicomb, Susanne Beyers and Dawid van Lill. National public relations manager Daleen van Wyk says the team will provide news, music and topical discussions ”with refreshing candour and outspokenness”.
Says Potgieter: ”Simply put, we are going to change traditional perceptions about what it means to be able to speak Afrikaans in South Africa.”
Advertisers also like the Afrikaans market because it is fairly wealthy, niched and easy to reach; the SABC recently upped its Afrikaans programming because advertising tailed off substantially when languages cuts were introduced.
– Punt Geselsradio is at 1332AM in Gauteng and at 729AM in the Western Cape.