South Africa’s oldest community radio station celebrates three decades of telling stories that matter.
Cape Town, South Africa (14 August 2025) – Thirty years ago, Bush Radio officially became a licensed broadcaster. But if you know its story, you’ll know it started long before that, in the 1980s, when a group of community activists and alternative media makers had an idea that was as bold as it was necessary.
They wanted to use grassroots radio to give people a voice, to tell the stories that weren’t being told under apartheid, and to make sure those voices came from the communities themselves.
By 1992, after years of consultation, Bush Radio was officially formed. They applied for a licence and were denied. Again. And again. So, they did what any determined group of changemakers would do… they went on air anyway.
It didn’t last long. Police raided the station, seized their equipment, and arrested Chairperson Mervyn Swarts and Coordinator Edric Gorfinkel. The community wasn’t having it. Placards went up, voices got louder, and eventually, the charges were dropped.
When democracy arrived in 1994, Bush Radio was granted a one-year temporary licence on 89.5FM, and by 2002, they had a four-year permanent community licence. They’ve been broadcasting 24/7 ever since in English, Afrikaans, and isiXhosa, with half their programmers being women, and every show carrying that same heartbeat of Cape Town they started with.
But Bush Radio has never been just a radio station. They run over 20 upliftment projects. They offer scholarships, run their own Broadcast Training Institute, and guide young people to think critically and get involved in their communities.
Over the years, the station has been recognised at home and abroad, with awards like the Prince Claus Award for Urban Heroes and a silver medal at the New York International Radio Festival for their HIVHOP project.
This month, they marked 30 years with a gala dinner and a Women in Jazz concert, a celebration of everyone who has kept Bush Radio alive and thriving.
Here’s to keeping the mic in the hands of the people where it’s always belonged.
“As we raise our glasses to the next 30 years, we remain committed to amplifying voices, broadcasting truth, music, and the unstoppable spirit of the people. Because that’s who we are, and that’s who we’ll always be,” says the team.
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