Standard Bank has donated computers to Alex FM.
This comes after the community radio station was vandalised a month ago by looters who wanted former president Jacob Zuma released from jail.
The damages at the station, together with the stolen equipment, cost R5 million.
But the past weeks have been great for the station, which is now operational again.
The bank donated 13 computers, two laptops, a printer and a software to help with the functioning of the equipment. The handover took place on Wednesday, 4 August, at the station which broadcasts from the Yarona Building in Alexandra.
Station manager Takalani Nemangowe said they were grateful to the bank for helping them.
“We appreciate the gesture they are showing to us. I’m speaking on behalf of the station and the people of Alex. We thank them for assisting us and giving the people of Alex a voice. Not having a community radio station would mean the people of Alex don’t have access to information. So this is quite big,” he said.
Takalani said they’ve been receiving help from a lot of companies and people.
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After the station was damaged, they moved to LM Radio in Sandton and broadcasted from there. But now the station is back in Alex.
“The response from people and different companies has been positive. We’re back at our old building and are fully operational in terms of equipment for the station. I think we’re doing very well right now. Old Mutual donated R150 000, the American Embassy donated $25 000 (R356 340), Primedia donated R50 000 and technical support, and Skyside SA gave us studio equipment. And ordinary citizens have been making contributions to our bank accounts,” he said.
The National Lottery Commission also donated R2 million to Alex FM to assist in the rebuilding of their studio.
However, Takalani said they still needed more donations.
“We’re not sorted yet. We’re hoping to receive more donations, even financial donations because about 5% of the companies that work with us in advertising were also looted, so that will cause serious financial implications for us,” he said.
Khomotso Molabe, Standard Bank’s chief engineering officer, said they’re glad they could help the station.
“We, as part of a broader commitment to rebuild the country, have already been working with a number of organisations to help where we can. And we’ve been looking where we can help and are specific about where we are helping. We have a long history of supporting the arts. And we recognise the value and role radio stations play in communities,” he said.
“When we became aware that Alex FM was in this situation, we heard they needed laptops and because it is in line with what we want to do in rebuilding the country, we decided to help,” he said.
Khomotso said they didn’t have an estimate of how much the donations cost, because they had to do everything quickly.
“So, we took some stuff from our storage because to order from scratch would’ve taken forever. We’re glad we could work fast and get them to operate quickly,” he said.
