On July 12 while President Cyril Ramaphosa was addressing the nation on the violence and destruction that had engulfed KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, criminals were busy looting and vandalising Sam Ntuli Mall in Mngadi Section, Katlehong, in Ekurhuleni.
An on-duty police officer from Ekurhuleni metro police department (EMPD) was reportedly shot dead by unknown assailants while witnesses said they saw about eight gunmen brandishing automatic rifles during the plunder of the complex whose casualties included First National Bank ATMs and its premises.
Another target on the complex was Kasie FM, a community radio station and a darling of local audiences with the motto “a kasie station for kasie people”.
According to Jabu Mpembe, the station manager, valuable and numerous items stolen included four laptops, five PCs, TV set, DStv decoder, printer, telephone handsets, microwave, four headphone sets, two heaters, four chairs and petty cash.
“On July 13 we decided to disconnect the studio equipment due to the fear of the mall and broadcasting infrastructure being burned,” recalls Mpembe.
“However, we managed to connect one desktop to continue playing music from July 14 while monitoring the situation and hoping for the best. The studio was reconnected on July 16 with the intention to resume normal programming which we managed three days later. We are still picking up the pieces and we will definitely appreciate any form of assistance from the public and corporate sectors.”
The station's sports presenter and football commentator, Dan “Zero” Sihlangu, says that media companies such as Media Connection as well as Media Development and Diversity Agency have visited the premises to assess the damage but still have to make any pledges to assist. In a press release, the agency expressed the importance of community radio and urged communities to protect their broadcasting infrastructure.
“It's with regret that our communities are damaging their own community radio stations which are a source of fresh information that empowers their daily lives,” the statement read.
“We urge community members to take care of their own media assets. Communities must refrain from vandalising their own community radio stations during this time of unrest.”
Kasie FM started broadcasting irregularly in 1997 and have since become a permanent service from 2007 using the 60/40 format for music and talk respectively.
“Since these unfortunate incidents, we have decided to give our listeners hope and encouraged them to abstain from criminal acts without making direct reference to the lootings as we don't want to entertain the subject,” says Sihlangu, who adds that during the lootings he and four other colleagues formed a human ring around their broadcasting studios to protect them against the vandals.
Unfortunately they couldn't protect the music room, computer centre and kitchen. They were ransacked and thousands of CDs belonging to local artists were stolen.
The looting frenzy has also hit other malls in neighbouring townships like Thokoza (Letsoho Mall) and Vosloorus (Chris Hani Mall) but the situation seems to be returning to normality though shops are still closed.
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