OTTAWA RESIDENTS EMPHASISE THE RESIDENTIAL NATURE OF THEIR VILLAGE

(Some the residents at the meeting at the Ottawa Civic Hall on Thursday, Sept 10 2015) (By Subry Govender ) The village of Ottawa, near Verulam, on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast is primarily a residential area and no truckers, scrap yards and other illegal businesses should be allowed to operate in the village. The was the clear and candid message conveyed to Ethekwini Municipality Town Planning officials at a meeting at the Ottawa Civic Hall on Thursday (Sept 10) evening. The meeting was convened by the Town Planning Department to inform residents about the municipality's "Ottawa Functional Area Plan and Scheme Project". After being informed of the proposals by the Planning officials, the residents spoke out against the general degeneration and degradation of Ottawa by some trucking companies and scrap yard dealers who are operating in various parts of the village. They pointed out vociferously and clearly that Ottawa was primarily a residential area and future developmental plans should take this into account. The residents emphasised that: * Ottawa is a rich historical village and the residential nature of the area should not be tampered with. * Trucking companies, scrap yard dealers and other illegal businesses are destroying the environment, including the Ohlanga River and its streams. A number of truckers are dumping sand into the river and one businessman had even set up a poultry business on the river near the Ottawa bridge. The municipality is doing nothing to take action and move the businesses to an industrial area. *Any future developmental plan should ensure that the environment is protected and the municipality should take steps to stop the degeneration and degradation of the area. Residents said after the meeting that it was coincidental that the meeting had been organised by the Town Planning officials at a time when Durban was hosting the 14th World Forestry Congress at the ICC. The Congress delegates, who are from all parts of the world, want to protect forests in their countries to, among other things, counter climatic change and promote the future of humanity. "We sincerely hope that as Durban and South Africa is concerned about preserving and protecting our forests, the environment and our heritage, that the Planning people in the city will spare a thought for the residents of Ottawa who have to put up with the degeneration and degradation of our village on a daily basis by unscrupulous business people and lack of action by the municipality. It is also the onus of residents to exercise their civic responsibility to prevent and conserve their residential and surrounding environments," said Ms Andisha Maharaj, Facilitator of the Ottawa Environmental Forum. ends - subry govender Sept 11 2015

OTTAWA RESIDENTS UP IN ARMS OVER DESTRUCTION OF ENVIRONMENT

"OTTAWA IS A RESIDENTIAL VILLAGE"

(Some of the residents who attended the meeting at the Ottawa Civic Hall on Thursday, Sept 10 2015) By Subry Govender The residents of Ottawa, near Verulam, on the North Coast have made urgent representations to the Ethekwini Municipality to help the community in protecting the area from degeneration and degradation. The residents, led by the Ottawa Environmental Forum, have submiited a memorandum to the municipality about the degeneration of the area that has been allowed to take place over the past few years. The residents have highlighted the destruction of the Ottawa River by unscrupulous truck owners who are dumping sand and rubbish into the river; the use of residential properties in Munn Road and Riverview Road for their prepesterous and illegal actions; the use of residential properties in Kissoon Road, Maharaj Road, Riverview Road and Munn Road for the parking of huge trucks; the dumping of sand, reclaiming of land and establishment of a livestock business near the Ottawa bridge; the use of an area at the entrance to School Road for anti-social activities; the alleged use of the Ottawa Community Hall by squatters; and the general litter and filth that has enveloped the main road and the other roads in the village. A meeting was held with two municipal officials recently after the Ottawa Environment Forum submitted its complaints. The municipal officials were appalled at the situation and promised to take appropriate actions and to work with the Forum to clean up the area. Mr Atom Dilraj, an official of the Ottawa Environmental Forum, said the residents were deeply concerned about the general degeneration that has engulfed the village. "We are particularly concerned at the uncontrolled filling of the river bank on both sides in the Ottawa section between R102 and the Ottawa Old Main Road. "We cannot allow this historic village to be destroyed by the lack of concern for the environment. The municipality must take urgent steps to clean up the litter and filth by consulting with the residents," he said. ends - Subry Govender Sept 11 2015

OTTAWA, NEAR VERULAM, IS A RESIDENTIAL VILLAGE – THIS IS THE CLEAR MESSAGE RELAYED TO THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY MEMORANDUM SUBMITTED TO MUNICIPALITY FOLLOWING A MEETING THAT THE ETHEKWINI TOWN PLANNERS HELD WITH THE RESIDENTS ON THURSDAY, SEPT 10 2015

MEMORANDUM ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF OTTAWA IN RESPONSE TO THE ETHEKWINI MUNICIPALITY'S "OTTAWA FUNCTIONAL AREA PLAN AND SCHEME PROJECT" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION --------------------------------- The small village of Ottawa, situated near Verulam, and surrounded by Phoenix, Waterloo and now Cornubia, has a rich heritage and history. The descendants of indentured labourers, who were brought to work on the sugar plantations of the then Natal Colony from India since the 1860s, settled in Ottawa and other areas such as Verulam, Tongaat, Stanger, in and around the city of Durban, and in several areas south of Durban, Umzinto, Port Shepstone, Pietermaritzburg and other areas of the Natal Colony. The people who settled in Ottawa had initially worked on sugar estates in the Ottawa Sugar Estate, Blackburn Sugar, Mount Edgecombe Sugar Estate and other sugar estates in the vicinity. Thereafter, many others, who were mainly market gardeners, railway workers, and others who worked in clothing factories and as waiters, also made Ottawa their home. They first lived in wood and iron houses and relied on the Ottawa River for their drinking water and water for other house-hold uses. The Ottawa River was in fact their "lifeblood". The residents also relied on the railway line running from Ottawa to Mount Edgecombe for their coal requirements. Their mode of transport at that time was only the trains running to Verulam and Durban. PROGRESS ---------------------- Life began to change for the residents since the early 1950s, when former South African tennis champion, Mr S S Maharaj, moved to Ottawa and opened his Flash Clothing factory. The factory was a life changer for poor people from Ottawa and surrounding areas. They now earned a livelihood as machinists and began to improve their lives. At the same time the residents of Ottawa, with the leadership of Mr Maharaj, Mr Parthab, Mr S S Badlu, Mr Munoo Maharaj, Mr Singh (George Singh's father), Mr Latiff and others, built their own school, Jhugroo Government Aided School. The land was donated by the Jhugroo family. With the clothing factory and the school, the residents began to improve the quality of lives of their children. This led to almost all the families transforming their wood and iron houses into neat and modern brick and tile homes. The only businesses in the early days were three shops situated on the main road running through the town and the motor scrap dealer situated across the railway line near Ottawa House. There were no businesses in the residential area making up Ottawa. After the construction of the new Jhugroo school, the residents also built the Ottawa hall, which is now owned by the municipality. In addition, the residents have also built their own temples. The church in Munn Road and the Mosque on the main road are new developments that only took place after 1994. In the early days, Christian, Muslim and Hindu members of the community used to travel to Verulam and Mount Edgecombe to obtain their spiritual needs. For the vast majority of residents, Ottawa was not only a place where they stayed but also a community who belonged to "one large family". POST 1994 ---------------------- After 1994, the residents continued to make progress in their lives and new people began to move in as well. They have made vast improvements to their properties. But at the same time there have been some business people who used the new era to set up trucking, motor scrap yards and other businesses in areas where previously these were purely residential properties. The main areas affected are Riverview and Munn roads, Maharaj Road, the back of Kissoon Road near the R102 and some properties at the top end of Ottawa. In addition, there are a number of environmentally-dangerous businesses on properties, east of the main road along the railway line. REPRESENTATIONS ------------------------------------ The Ottawa Environmental Forum, the Ottawa Civic Association, the Ottawa Crime Watch, other organisations and a number of individuals have taken up the issue of the degeneration and degradation now taking place with the municipality. But except for promises of action, virtually nothing has been done to bring the culprits, who are wreaking havoc on the environment, to book. No action has also been taken to move the businesses to an industrial area. The Ottawa River, once a lifeblood of the community, has now been virtually destroyed through illegal dumping and lack of care. The municipality has failed dismally to take action to protect the river. PROPOSALS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As indicated and made very clear by residents during the meeting on Thursday, September 10 at the Ottawa Civic Hall, it must be emphasised that OTTAWA IS PRIMARILY A RESIDENTIAL AREA and future developmental plans should take this into account. These are the main factors that must be taken into account: * Ottawa is a rich historical village and the residential nature of the area should not be tampered with. * Trucking companies, scrap yard dealers and other illegal businesses are destroying the environment, including the Ohlanga River and its streams. A number of truckers are dumping sand into the river and one businessman has even set up a poultry business on the river near the Ottawa bridge. The municipality is doing nothing to take action and move the businesses to an industrial area. *Any future developmental plan should ensure that the environment is protected and the municipality should take steps to stop the degeneration and degradation of the area. * The area is already congested and no cluster housing development should take place. Cluster housing is already taking place in neighbouring areas. The programme by the city council to build houses in every free standing area and public recreational facility in Phoenix is fast turning Phoenix into a slum. OTTAWA SHOULD NOT FOLLOW THE PHOENIX PATH AND ALSO TURNED INTO A SLUM. CONCLUSION -------------------------- It's interesting to note that the Town Planning Department of the Ethekwini Municipality had organised the meeting with residents at a time when Durban was hosting the 14th World Forestry Congress at the ICC. The Congress delegates, who are from all parts of the world, want to protect forests in their countries to, among other things, counter climatic change and promote the future of humanity. The residents of Ottawa sincerely hope that as Durban and South Africa is concerned about preserving and protecting our forests, the environment and our heritage, that the Planning people in the city will spare a thought for the residents of Ottawa who have to put up with the degeneration and degradation of their village on a daily basis by unscrupulous business people and lack of action by the municipality. It is up to the Town Planners to ensure that the environment in and around Ottawa is not only protected and promoted, but that the RESIDENTIAL NATURE OF THE VILLAGE IS NOT COMPROMISED IN ANY WAY. It must also be noted that the Ethekwini Municipality has now embarked on a programme to "putting people first" - in other words the municipality will take into account the views, concerns and wishes of the ratepayers and taxpayers and will not impose undemocratic policies on the residents. (Submitted by Subry Govender, Veteran Struggle Journalist who paid the price for the freedom we enjoy today.) (subrygovender@gmail.com, 082 376 9053, No:3 Riverview Road, Ottawa)

SOUTHSIDE FM RADIO WRITE TO PRESIDENT ABOUT THEIR STRUGGLES TO LAUNCH RADIO STATION

The officials of Southside FM Radio have now made representations to President Jacob Zuma about their struggles for an FM frequency over the past five-and-half-years. On September 8 2015, Southside submitted the following letter and Memorandum to the President's office in Pretoria outling in full detail about the struggles to launch their radio station. Southside has appealed to the President for an audience to discuss the way forward. Southside chairperson, Mrs Sally Padaychie, wife of the late Minister Roy Padaychie, will lead a delegation of leaders to meet the President. LETTER OF SEPT 8 2015 --------------------------------------------- SOUTSIDE FM RADIO (NPO No: 089 - 426) 59 Musgrave Road, Durban Tel: 082 376 9053/ 031 - 568 13009 email: subrygovender@gmail.com Sept 8 2015 His Honour President Jacob Zuma Presidency Pretoria ----------------------- Dear Honourable President It's with great humility and respect that we write to you about our struggles to obtain a frequency despite commitments and assurances by ICASA and Sentech about our requirements. We have been struggling for a frequency over the past five-and-half-years ever since former struggle stalwarts and cultural leaders decided to launch a cultural radio station for South Africans who are of south Indian-origin. Our radio station has been supported by prominent leaders and organisations, including the late former Minister of Communications, Mr Roy Padaychie; Mrs Sally Padaychie, who is now our chairperson; Mr Micky Chetty, immediate former president of the South African Tamil Federation who is now president of the International Organisation for the Promotion of Tamil; Mr Balan Gounden, president of the Merebank Tamil School Society in Durban; Mr Karthy Moothsamy, current chairperson of the SATF; Mr Logan Naidoo, prominent business leader and former chairperson of Sentech; Mr Vivian Reddy of the Edison Group; struggle stalwarts, Mr Swaminathan Gounden and Dr Dilly Naidoo; and veteran struggle journalist, Mr Subry Govender. Despite struggling for the past five-and-half-years, we are still being denied a frequency and this is causing a great deal of frustration among our supporters and memnbers of our target audience. Everywhere we go, people are asking: "What is happening? Why have Southside not yet been granted a frequency? When are you going to launch our radio station?" We have made regular and repeated representations to almost every level of authority and now have no option but to take up the issue with your honourable goodself. We enclose a memorandum on our project and the struggles we have been engaged in, in order to obtain a frequency in terms of the values, policies and principles of our new democratic order. Our chairperson, Mrs Sally Padaychie, and a delegation of the South Indian-origin community, would like an audience with his Honour, President Jacob Zuma, to discuss the way forward. Please let us know when we could be accommodated. Thanks and kind regards. Subry Govender Secretary ---------------------------------- Board of Governors: Mrs Sally Padaychie (chairperson), Mr Balan Gounden (deputy vice-chairperson), Mr Richard Naidoo (deputy vice-chairperson), Ms Kersah Govender (Treasurer), Mr Logan Naidoo, Mr Swaminathan Gounden, Mr Denis Naidoo (Deputy Treasurer), Mrs Thirupurisundrie Govender, Mr Sumeshen Moodley (Assistant Secretary) and Mr Subry Govender (Secretary) MEMORANDUM SENT TO PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA ========================================= SOUTHSIDE FM RADIO (NPO No: 089 - 426) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 59 Musgrave Road, Durban Tel: 031 - 568 1309/082 376 9053 email: subrygovender@gmail.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 10 2015 MEMORANDUM ON THE NEED FOR A FREQUENCY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION ----------------------------- The move for the establishment of a radio station for the descendants of indentured labourers was started in 2009 at a time when preparations were being made to commemmorate the arrival of our forefathers and mothers 155 years ago. The main proponents were Mr Swaminathan Gounden, a former veteran political activist; Mr Balan Gounden, a cultural leader; and Mr Subry Govender, a veteran journalist and former political activist. They spoke to a wide range of people and organisations about the establishment of such a station. The unanimous response was: "It's long overdue." Although we have provided full details in our application for a community radio licence and in numerous communications with ICASA, we wish to make the following submissions: 1). Southside FM Radio represents South Africans whose mother tongues are Tamil and Telugu. 2). We make up between 55 and 60 percent of the more than 1,4-million South Africans of Indian origin. 3). We are mainly descendants of indentured labourers who worked almost as slaves on the sugar plantations of then Natal Colony since the 1860s. 4). The leaders emanating from this community over the past 155 years have played very important roles in the social, educational, business, sporting and political struggles and development of South Africa. Some of the leaders who have emerged from this community include: Dr Monty Naicker, who worked with leaders of the calibre of Dr Albert Luthuli; Mr Billy Nair, who spent more than 20 years on Robben Island with leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu; political activists Swaminathan Gounden, R D Naidoo, Advocate M D Naidoo, Mrs Phyllis Naidoo; and Mr M N Pather, R K Naidoo and Mr Morgan Naidoo, who played leading roles in isolating apartheid sport and promoting the freedom struggles during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s; Mr Ronnie Govender and Mr Subry Govender - journalists who played important roles in promoting the freedom struggles through their work; and the late Cabinet Minister, Mr Roy Padaychie, who died in early 2012. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ------------------------------------------ After having contributed to the liberation struggles, some of the leaders - including the late Mr Padaychie, Mr Balan Gounder, Mr Swaminathan Gounden and Mr Subry Govender, who retired from the SABC in 2009 after joining in 1995, got together and discussed what we should do to, not only to promote the rich cultures, languages and traditions of this community, but also to inculcate the values and principles of being full South Africans. One of these values is the promotion of the IsiZulu and other languages among this community. At a meeting in October 2009, it was decided that we should establish a radio station in order to promote these values. Southside FM Radio was thus initiated. COMMITTEE ------------------------ A committee, under the chairpersonship of Mr Subry Govender, was elected at a meeting held at the David Landau Community Centre in Asherville, Durban, in October 2009. Since the meeting, Mr Govender, Mr Gounder, Mr Gounden, Ms Keresha Govender(treasurer) and Mrs Thirupurasundrie Govender (secretary) got down to applying for a NPO registration number, a community radio licence and a frequency. NPO ----------- This was granted early in 2011 by the Department of Social Welfare. The number is 089 - 426. COMMUNITY RADIO LICENCE ------------------------------------------------------ After a great deal of communications with ICASA for nearly two years and after the submission of seven bounded documents, we were granted a five-year community radio licence by ICASA in September 2011. The late Minister Roy Padaychie played an important role in this regard. CULTURAL EVENING ------------------------------------ In view of the tremendous interest shown by the community for the establishment of a radio station, we organised a cultural evening and fund-raising dinner at the MTSS in Merebank, Durban, on Saturday, February 25, 2012. The function was a huge and phenomenal success with more than 500 supporters, donors and sponsors supporting the scheduled launch of the radio station. Nearly R1-million was pledged on the evening for the radio station. The late former Minister of Communications, Mr Roy Padaychie, was the main guest speaker at the function. FREQUENCY ----------------------- In our communications with ICASA and Sentech, we have repeatedly and regularly pointed out in writing that our primary and main target market is situated: * in and around the city of Durban - Chatsworth, Phoenix, and Pinetown. * the North Coast - Verulam, Tongaat, Stanger, Richards Bay. * the South Coast - Port Shepstone, Umzinto, Umkomaas, Amanzimtoti. * Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith, Dundee and Newcastle. * Johannesburg - Midrand and Randburg/Fourways/Bryanstan/Lenasia. * Pretoria - Laudium/Benoni * Cape Town, and * Port Elizabeth-East London. We made it clear that initially we wanted to start broadcasting to the primary target area of Durban and then extend to the other regions. Prior to the granting of the community radio licence in September 2011, we had been given a number of co-ordinates by ICASA and SENTECH. Two frequencies allocated but not confirmed were 94.4 and 93.6 MHz. But at every turn we were told that the frequencies were clashing with one another or that they were in use by other radio stations. We found that at least two frequencies used by community radio stations that had operated from Durban had not been broadcasting for more than two years. One of the community radio stations has since started to operate again through the assistance of the authorities. We have repeatedly pointed out that our main and initial target market is situated in the Durban area, north coast, south coast and the Pietermaritzburg region. But unfortunately we have been told that Durban area is congested and that there are no frequencies. Instead we were told to apply for frequencies in the Pietermaritzburg area, Newcastle-Ladysmith, and Port Shepstone. Subsequently we were told that Pietermaritzburg was not feasible and was only granted a frequency in the Port Shepstone area from Port Edward to Umkomaas. (But now we have been told that the area of Pietermaritzburg will also be granted to us.) After we received the Port Shepstone frequency we consulted with our supporters and donors. We found that most people felt that our main target market is in and around Durban, north coast, south coast and Pietermaritzburg and it would not be financially feasible to broadcast only in the Port Shepstone region. Our committee felt that we must point this out to ICASA and this was done when we held a meeting with ICASA in Johannesburg on June 19 2012. We believe that: 1. It will not be financial feasible to broadcast only in the Port Shepstone area because most of our target market is in the Durban area and in the Johannesburg-Pretoria region. 2. ICASA must find a solution for us because our supporters and donors are looking forward to the launch of our radio station as soon as possible. MEETING WITH ICASA ---------------------------------------- In view of the problems encountered in obtaining a frequency we held a meeting with two ICASA officials in Johannesburg on June 25 2012 Our delegation was made up of Mr Subry Govender(Secretary); Ms Poomanie Naidoo, chairperson of the South African Tamil Federation; Mr Micky Chetty, former chairperson of the SATF and current chairperson of the International Organisation for the Promotion of Tamil; Mr T Chetty, Public Relations Officer of the SATF and Mr Savesh Pather, an MK veteran. We gave the ICASA officials a detailed account of Southside FM Radio and repeated most of the information we had supplied in our application for a community radio licence. After listening to our presentations, the two officials asked us to provide them with details of the premises in Durban, together with the co-ordinates, from where we would broadcast from. They told the Southside delegation that once this was done they would select the premises with the maximum coverage and provide us with the frequency. As soon as we returned to Durban, we submitted details of seven premises together with the co-ordinates to ICASA. We completed the application forms with the assistance of Sentech. Towards the end of July, one of the officials telephoned Mr Subry Govender and informed him that they might have some "good news" for us. He said they had identified a frequency and he would inform us soon of the latest development. The official, at the request of Mr Govender, submitted this information to Southside. He pointed out that he still had to clear this with Sentech. A few days later the ICASA official came back to Mr Govender to inform him through another letter that the frequency, 103.4 MHz, would clash with another radio station in Eshowe and, therefore, for the time being there was no frequency for us. We wrote back to ICASA informing the communications agency that we were deeply disappointed and wanted to know what has happened to information we had supplied about the premises where we had hoped to broadcast from. We also requested a response from ICASA as to what more must we do to be granted a frequency. We also requested another meeting with ICASA to discuss the situation. ICASA has now informed us that in addition to the PS and Pietermaritzburg FM frequencies, they have two MW frequencies on offer for us. However, according to Sentech in their 2011 Annual Report "The usage of the medium wave platform is on the decline." The report went on to state: "The current market trend is for customers to migrate their services to the FM service platform and the product is likely to experience further customer churn in the forthcoming financial period. Sentech's current strategy is not to invest in upgrading this platform but rather to assist customers to migrate to FM where possible. "Sentech will continue to maintain and operate the platform efficiently for the forseeable future to ensure that services are available to those customers who require services on this platform." COMMUNICATION WITH THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PPC ON ARTS AND CULTURE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In October 2012 we sent the following letter to the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture in an attempt to get some assistance: "SOUTHSIDE FM RADIO (NPO No: 089 - 426) P.O. Box 486 Verulam 4340 Tel: 082 376 9053/ 031 - 568 13009 email: subrygovender@gmail.com October 29 2012 Ms Thandile Babalwa Sunduza Chairperson Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture Parliament Cape Town Dear Madam I am writing this letter to you at the request of the Management Committee of Southside FM Radio and one of our major donors, Mr Logan Naidoo, the former chairperson of Sentech. We are a cultural radio station that was started in 2009 by a group of former political activists and cultural leaders who wanted to promote the cultures, traditions, and music for South Africans whose mother tongues are Tamil and Telugu via a radio station. The radio station was proposed also to teach IsiZulu to its target audience. One of the main initiators is former struggle journalist and political correspondent, Subry Govender. Since our establishment we have been able to register ourselves as an NPO, obtain a five-year Class Community Radio licence and also receive the support of the community in general and some of the leaders such as the late Cabinet Minister, Mr Roy Padaychie; Mrs Sally Padaychie; Mr Logan Naidoo; Mr Vivian Reddy of Edison Corp; Mr Santha Naidoo, a prominent Durban hotelier; Mr Rajen Pillay, a prominent Stock Exchange broker; Mr Singaran Nadarajan, a prominent Durban businessman; and former political activist, Dr Dilly Naidoo. Although we received our licence from ICASA in August 2011, we have been struggling to obtain a frequency in our main target market area of Durban and surrounding areas. The untimely passing of Minister Padaychie has also caused problems in us obtaining a frequency in the Durban area. Since his passing, we have taken up the issue through the persistence of Mr Logan Naidoo with several role players but have not yet been given a frequency in our main target area of Durban and surrounding areas. Instead, we have been allocated frequencies in the Pietermaritzburg and Port Shepstone areas. We informed ICASA that we will utilise these frequencies once we are granted a frequency in Durban and surrounding areas. We also informed ICASA that our target market area also includes the Johannesburg-Pretoria region; Cape Town; Port Elizabeth-East London; and areas such as Newcastle, Ladysmith, Dundee and the KZN North and South coasts. We have now reached a stage where our target market people are asking us on a daily basis when are we going to launch our radio station. We enclose a Memorandum which would give you full details of our project. We would be grateful if you can afford us an audience so that we could bring to your attention the urgency of our project. Please confirm the receipt of this letter and attached Memorandum. Thanking you and kind regards. Subry Govender Secretary --------------------------------- Management Committee: Mr Balan Gounder (chairman), Ms Thiru Govender (asst secretary), Ms Keresha Govender (treasurer), Mr Swaminathan Gounden, Mr R P Govender, Mr Richard Naidoo, Mr Deven Moodley, Mr Dennis Naidoo, Mr Sumeshen Moodley, Mr Sagie Moodley, Ms T. Sanasy, Mr Senthil Narsigan, Mr Ugen Nadasen, Mr Morgan Nadasen and Mr Bala Naidoo." FORMER CHAIRPERSON OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After our negotiations for a frequency with ICASA failed to reach any positive results, we had no alternative but to take up our struggles with the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications at that time, Mr Eric Kholwane. Mr Kholwane was very supportive and arranged two meetings in Durban in 2013 when the issue of a frequency was taken up very seriously. The second meeting meeting on Friday, April 26 2013 was attended by all the main role players and definite arrangements were made for us to be granted a frequency. For the record, the following senior officials were present: 1. Mr S E Kholwane, Chairperson Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications. 2. Dr Stephen Ncube, Chairperson of ICASA. 3. Dr Setuma Mohapi, CEO of Sentech. 4. Mr Patrick Sikhosana, KZN Manager, Sentech. 5. Mr Nkopane Maphiri, MDDA. 6. An official of the Department of Comunications, and 7. Ms Lulama Makhobo, CEO of SABC. The officials present from Southside included: 1. Mr Balan Gounder (Chairperson) 2. Mr Subry Govender (Secretary) 3. Ms Keresha Govender (Treasurer) 4. Mr Swaminathan Gounden 5. Mr Logan Naidoo 6. Mr Denis Naidoo 7. Mr Richard Naidoo (Deputy Chairperson). Mrs Sally Padaychie, wife of the late Minister Roy Padaychie who is now our Chairperson, expressed her apologies for not being able to attend. After the introductions and the main factors made by Mr Kholwane and Mr Balan Gounder about our need for a FM frequency in and around the Durban area, the following points emerged: 1. Dr Mohapi, CEO of Sentech, gave an outline of the frequency that would be made available to us with the assistance of the SABC. Dr Mohapi committed himself and gave an assurance that such a frequency would be made available within the shortest time possible, most likely within a month. 2. Ms Makhobo, CEO of SABC, also made a commitment that she would work with Dr Mohapi in providing us with the necessary frequency. 3. Dr Ncube, Chairperson of ICASA, also pledged his full support in the granting of the frequency and requested that he be invited to attend the official launch of Southside. 4. The chairperson, Mr Kholwane, observed that this frequency must be ironed out within the shortest time possible. After Mr Kholwane made the final remarks about the frequency, he called upon the officials of the MDDA and the Department of Communications to assist us to get off the ground as per their mandates. The officials in question promised to look at our applications and they gave Southside their contact details. Finally, Mr Kholwane broached the subject of sharing the airtime with the SABC's Lotus FM Radio. The manager present indicated that they were prepared to meet Southside within the next two weeks. The meeting ended very successfully on the undertaking that finally Southside would be granted a frequency and all the officials would be invited to our launch. In a letter of gratitude to Mr Kholwane, we quoted our great freedom icon, Dr Nelson Mandela, about the struggles. This is what we quoted: "The greatest glory in living, lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." NEGOTIATIONS WITH MINISTER YUNUS CARRIM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following our fruitful negotiations with Mr Kholwane, we found that once he had left office, ICASA once again dilly dallied about our frequency. Once again we had no alternative but to take up the issue at a higher level. This time we held talks with Minister Yunus Carrim at a specially-arranged meeting in Durban on January 18 2014. At this meeting, Mr Carrim promised to ensure that we are granted our frequency and requested some details about our negotiations. We submitted the following letter to the former Minisrter Carrim, who is now Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Finance: "January 18 2014 Mr Yunus Carrim Minister of Communications Pretoria Dear Minister Carrim We, the officials of Southside FM Radio, want to thank you very sincerely for agreeing to meet us today (Jan 18 2014) at the Coastlands Hotel in Umhlanga to discuss the resolution of our urgent need for a frequency that has been dragging on for five years. We understand that you are a very busy Minister and we want to say how grateful we are that you had set aside some of your precious time to meet us. We appreciate your inputs and eagerly await your letter you said you would send on January 27 2014. We had decided to take up the issue directly with you because we believe that there needs to be urgent intervention to assist us in our long and arduous struggle to launch our radio station. As requested by you, we wish to state that we were FIRST offered the FM frequency, 93.6, in January 2011 by ICASA but this was subsequently obstructed by Sentech, who claimed that this frequency would cause interference to other radio stations. Then after meeting with Mr Monde Mbanga, Manager: Broadcasting Spectrum Engineering and Technology, of ICASA and another official in Johannesburg on June 21 2012, we were asked to supply ICASA with the co-ordinates of the four premises where we would broadcast from in Durban. We supplied the co-ordinates of the premises in Mount Edgecombe, Merebank, Chatsworth and Briardene on July 6 2012 but to date we have heard nothing about the frequency being granted to broadcast from any one of these premises. Then after the meetings initiated by Mr Eric Kholwane, the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Communications, we received the following letter from Mr Mbanga on May 27 2013: "On 5/27/13, Monde Mbanga wrote: Dear Subry, As highlighted in my previous email, there is good progress on this matter. The following has been achieved thus far: 1. Sentech has submitted a proposed solution 2. ICASA confirmed the solution's feasibility and viability 3. Now ,Sentech is engaging SABC on the Logistics of the testing and implementation of the proposed solution 4. I'll advise you of the development after my second meeting with Sentech where the implementation and the timelines of this solution for Southside FM will be finalised. 5. Your patience will be highly appreciated 6. Please refrain from including chairperson's in our operational discussions, there is enough progress and no constraints that require their intervention at this stage. Regards Monde Mbanga" But despite all the assurances from all sides, we were forced to take up the matter directly with you in late 2013. In our letter on September 17 2013 to you, we gave you a detailed account of our struggles and expressed the view that we cannot understand why, we as a progressive cultural radio station, are being frustrated in our efforts. We are fully committed to the ideals and values of our new nonracial and democratic South Africa and want to play a full role in this regard via our radio station. Since submitting the letter to you, we have received a very positive response from you and you directed us to negotiate with senior officials in your department. In this regard, we have been in constant touch with your Chief of Staff, Ms Siphokazi Shoba. Ms Shoba has been very helpful and on October 23 2013, she relayed to us the steps that were being taken to help us with our frequency. She passed on to us a letter that was sent to her. This is what the letter stated: "Dear Mr Govender Below please see below report from ICASA. I will check with my colleague Jabu Radebe w.r.t the turnaround time of the process mentioned in the below e-mail. Sincerely, Siphokazi ................................................................................. On 2013/10/23 5:13 PM, "Philemon Molefe" wrote: Colleagues, There was a meeting held at SABC on Monday to resolve the issue. The meeting was with the Acting COO of SABC, Sentech, DoC and ICASA. The meeting was held at the request of the PPCC Chairperson. The purpose of the meeting was for SABC to give Sentech a go ahead with the testing of the feasibility of releasing a frequency in Durban for use by Southside FM. Summary of outcome of the meeting is as follows: 1. SABC has agreed to allow Sentech to conduct the Tests as initially agreed at the meeting in Durban. 2. SABC to apply to ICASA by end of this week for a temporary trial spectrum Licence so as to allow Sentech to commence with the tests. 3. ICASA to process the SABC application upon receipt thereof and ultimately issue a Licence. 4. Sentech to commence the tests once temporary Licence has been issued to SABC. 5. SABC recommended Lynn Mansfield to be part of the tests. 6. The steps that follow thereafter will be as per the meeting held in Durban between SABC, Sentech, ICASA, DoC , Southside FM and PPCC chairperson. Siphokazi, DoC was represented by Jabu in the meeting held on Monday. For any further information, I believe he can fill any gaps or provide info that I might have left out. The process is currently at step 2 above. [SABC still to apply for temp trial licence]. However, there is progress in the sense that they have agreed to take the process forward]. Hope you find the above helpful. Kind regards Sent from my iPad ............................................................................ On 23 Oct 2013, at 12:52 PM, "Unathi Bangani" UBangani@icasa.org.za wrote: Dear Sipho, As far as I understand, negotiations are still underway to assist them. The matter is very complex but from the email below it does not seem like ICASA is the stumbling block here. I have copied my colleague, Phil Molefe who has been dealing with the issue at hand so that he can advise from our side what is the status update. Regards, Unathi" After we received this letter, we continued to maintain constant contact with Ms Shoba about the latest developments and progress, if any. We were to have met you on December 10 last year but due to the demise of our beloved Madiba, we were unable to do so. You had postponed all your arrangements until mid-January this year. In the meanwhile, we contacted the regional manager of Sentech in Durban and wanted to know whether he had conducted the field tests for the frequency. On January 17, he sent me the following letter: "Good morning Subry; Compliments of the new season to you and your family; You can recall that on the 26th of April 2013 we had a meeting at Elangeni hotel in Durban where this issue was discussed. During that meeting Sentech agreed to conduct desktop analysis on the feasibility of increasing the transmitter power of R2000 at Alverstone from 3000W to 5000W; the idea was to increase the power so that those areas that are receiving R2000 from Bluff transmitter could get an alternative signal from Alverstone if the Bluff frequency is switched off or allocated to Southside FM. Secondly it was resolved that if the desktop analysis become successful then ICASA and SABC will allow Sentech to do the field test by switching off Bluff transmitter for a period of a week or two. Sentech completed the desktop successfully as this was communicated to you and the team. I have not been personally involved in subsequent meetings so it will be unfair for me to state what happened there after. I can say that SABC, ICASA and Sentech must agree on the way forward before we at Operations do anything; we get instruction from Head office. I would like to suggest that you take this matter to those who have powers to make a final decision on the matter. Good luck and kind regards; Patrick " Mr Minister we have put in a lot of work over the past four-and-half-years in order to get our progressive radio station off the ground. We have been made to believe since the beginning by ICASA and Sentech that there were no problems in granting us a frequency. We cannot understand why - in this day and age of modern technology - that we are being frustrated. The new non-racial and democratic South Africa has made provision for almost all cultural groups to be catered for in so far as radio stations are concerned - but we - who make up an important part of South Africa's population - are being frustrated in our attempts. We want to play not only a progressive role in the new South Africa but we also want play a developmental role in promoting the ideals, values, and principles for which leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Dr Monty Naicker and Dr Yusuf Dadoo had sacrificed and died for. When we launch we would have on our programme the teaching of isiZulu to our target market so that social cohesion - which is an important part of our new South Africa - is taken seriously. We have reached a stage where we have put on hold the construction of our studio and recruitment of our staff members until we are granted our frequency. What we are experiencing is very painful and causing frustration among members of our target market. We cannot allow this state of affairs in our new non-racial and democratic South Africa. " DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICARTIONS -------------------------------------------------------------------- Minister Carrim asked his officials in his department, especially Mr Freddy Maruremi and Ms Shoba, to help us with our frequency requirements. OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY ---------------------------------------------------- While negotiating with Mr Carrim and his officials, we at the same time, made contact with the Office of the Presidency about our concerns. We have been keeping Ms Lakela Kaunda, Chief Director, and another official, Zandile Mavundla, informed on a regular basis about our painful efforts to obtain a frequency. We also took up the matter with Dr Zweli Mkhize, who was the former Premier of KwaZulu-Natal. Even after moving into another office, we kept Dr Mkhize up to date about our struggles. Dr Mkhize continues to support the establishment of our radio station. MINISTER FAITH MUTHAMBI ----------------------------------------------------- After Minister Muthambi took office after the elections in May 2014, our chairperson, Mrs Sally Padyachie, held talks with the Minister and her Deputy Director General, Mr Norman Divhuhu, in Pretoria. The Minister gave an assurance that the matter would be sorted out soon. She told Mrs Padaychie: "Mr Norman Divhuhu would make arrangements for Southside to be given a frequency soon." Mr Divhuhu even telephoned this writer, Subry Govender, and gave the following undertaking: "For the sake of Mr Roy Padaychie I will do everything to ensure that Southside is granted a frequency." PARLIAMENTARY PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After our meetings with the officials from the Department of Communications, ICASA and Sentech in June 2015 and August 2015, we submitted the following letters to the Chairperson of the PPCC, requesting a meeting to try to resolve the problems surrounding our representations for an FM frequency in Durban. 1. "SOUTSIDE FM RADIO (NPO No: 089 - 426) 59 Musgrave Road, Durban Tel: 082 376 9053/ 031 - 568 13009 email: subrygovender@gmail.com June 10 2015 Ms Joyce Clementine Moloi-Moropa Chairperson Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications Cape Town ----------------------- Dear Honourable Chairperson It's with great humility and respect that we write to you about our struggles to obtain a frequency despite commitments and assurances by ICASA and Sentech about our requirements. We have been struggling for a frequency over the past five-and-half-years ever since former struggle stalwarts and cultural leaders decided to launch a cultural radio station for South Africans who are of south Indian-origin. Our radio station has been supported by prominent leaders and organisations, including the late former Minister of Communications, Mr Roy Padaychie; Mrs Sally Padaychie, who is now our chairperson; Mr Micky Chetty, immediate former president of the South African Tamil Federation who is now president of the International Organisation for the Promotion of Tamil; Mr Balan Gounden, president of the Merebank Tamil School Society in Durban; Mr Karthy Moothsamy, current chairperson of the SATF; Mr Logan Naidoo, prominent business leader and former chairperson of Sentech; struggle stalwarts, Mr Swaminathan Gounden and Dr Dilly Naidoo; and veteran journalist, Mr Subry Govender. Despite struggling for the past five-and-half-years, we are still being denied a frequency and this is causing a great deal of frustration among our supporters and memnbers of our target audience. Everywhere we go, people are asking: "What is happening? Why have Southside not yet been granted a frequency? When are you going to launch our radio station?" We have made regular and repeated representations to almost every level of authority and now have no option but to take up the issue once again with your honourable goodself. We enclose a memorandum on our project and the struggles we have been engaged in, in order to obtain a frequency in terms of the values, policies and principles of our new democratic order. Our chairperson, Mrs Sally Padaychie, and two other senior officials have been authorised by our Board of Governors to travel to Cape Town to make representations directly to the Portfolio Committee on Communications. Please let us know when we could make the representations directly to you and the committee in Cape Town. Thanks and kind regards. Subry Govender Secretary ---------------------------------- Board of Governors: Mrs Sally Padaychie (chairperson), Mr Balan Gounden (deputy vice-chairperson), Mr Richard Naidoo (deputy vice-chairperson), Ms Kersah Govender (Treasurer), Mr Logan Naidoo, Mr Swaminathan Gounden, Mr Denis Naidoo (Deputy Treasurer), Mrs Thirupurisundrie Govender, Mr Sumeshen Moodley (Assistant Secretary) and Mr Subry Govender (Secretary)" 2. "SOUTSIDE FM RADIO (NPO No: 089 - 426) 59 Musgrave Road, Durban Tel: 082 376 9053/ 031 - 568 13009 email: subrygovender@gmail.com July 16 2015 Ms Joyce Clementine Moloi-Moropa Chairperson Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications Cape Town ----------------------- Dear Honourable Chairperson We refer to our letter of June 10 2015 and the Memorandum we submitted to you regarding the struggles over the past five-and-half-years to obtain an FM frequency. We wish to advise now that a senior Policy official of the Department of Communications, Mr Collin Mashile, and Mr Phil Molefe, Senior Manager, Engineering and Technology at ICASA, held talks with us in Durban on Tuesday, July 14 2015 to inform us about the solution for Southside to start broadcasting. They arrived from Pretoria and Johannesburg respectively for the meeting and were joined by Mr Nsizwa Gumede, the ICASA KZN Manager. Southside was represented by Mrs Sally Padaychie (chairperson and widow of the late Minister Roy Padaychie), Mr Logan Naidoo, ( executive official and former chairperson of Sentech), Mr Balan Gounder (deputy chairperson), Mr Swaminathan Gounden, Mr Richard Naidoo (deputy chairperson), Ms Keresha Govender (treasurer) and the writer, Subry Govender (secretary). Both Mr Mashile and Mr Molefe emphasised that they fully understood Southside's disillusionment and disenchantment over the failure not to be granted an FM frequency. They pointed out that in view of the lack of an available FM frequency in the Durban area and because the SABC has turned down a study report for the sharing of Radio 2 000 frequency in the Durban area with Southside, Southside should consider the following: i). Start broadcasting via Medium Wave; ii). Utilise the FM frequencies available in the Pietermaritzburg and District and the Port Shepstone and District areas. iii). Utilising DSTV radio distrubution to go national. Southside FM Radio records the visit of the representatives of the Department of Communicationn and ICASA and note that the ONLY proposal tabled was that which was rejected two-and- half-years ago on the basis that it was : i). too expensive for a non-profit community radio station; and ii). the ‘ Medium Wave ‘ frequency is not an easily accessible modality. We have already contacted Sentech and an official has informed us that Medium Wave was not feasible. We would like to humbly bring to the attention of the Chairperson that Southside represents nearly 60 percent of South Africans of Indian-origin who are concentrated in KZN; Johannesburg-Pretoria region; Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. We want to submit that all other communities have been allocated the FM band and its discriminatory to provide Southside with an undesirable and more expensive option to service its needs. The meeting was a major step backward and we will not allow the DOC to "close the door " on this matter in this manner . We are the only cultural community at the moment without a radio station to promote its cultures, traditions, music, and languages. We strongly believe that we are being marginalised in this regard and we look forward to the intervention of the PPCC to provide us with a viable option on equal terms as that which was made available to the other communities. We would like to request a meeting with your goodself so that we could inform you directly of our struggles to obtain a frequency and to launch our radio station. Our chairperson, Mrs Sally Padaychie, and another two officials have been mandated to travel to Cape Town to meet with your goodself. Hoping to hear from your goodself at your earliest convenience. Thanks and kind regards. Subry Govender Secretary ---------------------------------- Board of Governors: Mrs Sally Padaychie (chairperson), Mr Balan Gounden (deputy vice-chairperson), Mr Richard Naidoo (deputy vice-chairperson), Ms Kersah Govender (Treasurer), Mr Logan Naidoo, Mr Swaminathan Gounden, Mr Denis Naidoo (deputy treasurer), Mrs Thirupurisundrie Govender, Mr Sumeshen Moodley (assistant secretary) and Mr Subry Govender (secretary)" 3. "SOUTSIDE FM RADIO (NPO No: 089 - 426) 59 Musgrave Road, Durban Tel: 082 376 9053/ 031 - 568 13009 email: subrygovender@gmail.com August 25 2015 Ms Joyce Clementine Moloi-Moropa Chairperson Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications Cape Town ----------------------- Dear Honourable Chairperson We refer to our letters of June 10 2015 and July 16 2015 and the Memorandum we submitted to you regarding the struggles over the past five-and-half-years to obtain an FM frequency. We wish to advise now that a senior Policy official of the Department of Communications, Mr Collin Mashile, and Mr Phil Molefe, Senior Manager, Engineering and Technology at ICASA, held talks with us in Durban on Tuesday, July 14 2015 to inform us about the solution for Southside to start broadcasting. They arrived from Pretoria and Johannesburg respectively for the meeting and were joined by Mr Nsizwa Gumede, the ICASA KZN Manager. Southside was represented by Mrs Sally Padaychie (chairperson and widow of the late Minister Roy Padaychie), Mr Logan Naidoo, ( executive official and former chairperson of Sentech), Mr Balan Gounder (deputy chairperson), Mr Swaminathan Gounden, Mr Richard Naidoo (deputy chairperson), Ms Keresha Govender (treasurer) and the writer, Subry Govender (secretary). Both Mr Mashile and Mr Molefe emphasised that they fully understood Southside's disillusionment and disenchantment over the failure not to be granted an FM frequency. They pointed out that in view of the lack of an available FM frequency in the Durban area and because the SABC has turned down a study report for the sharing of Radio 2 000 frequency in the Durban area with Southside, Southside should consider the following: i). Start broadcasting via Medium Wave; ii). Utilise the FM frequencies available in the Pietermaritzburg and District and the Port Shepstone and District areas. iii). Utilising DSTV radio distrubution to go national. Southside FM Radio records the visit of the representatives of the Department of Communicationn and ICASA and note that the ONLY proposal tabled was that which was rejected two-and- half-years ago on the basis that it was : i). too expensive for a non-profit community radio station; and ii). the ‘ Medium Wave ‘ frequency is not an easily accessible modality. Following the meeting with the DOC and ICASA officials, we subsequently held a meeting with Sentech at their offices in Duirban North on Wednesday, July 22 2015. Sentech officials, Mr Naren Dhunpath and Mr Joseph Claasen informed us at the meeting that Medium Wave was not only too costly but was also not feasible. We would like to humbly bring to the attention of the Chairperson that Southside represents nearly 60 percent of South Africans of Indian-origin who are concentrated in KZN; Johannesburg-Pretoria region; Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. We want to submit that all other communities have been allocated the FM band and its discriminatory to provide Southside with an undesirable and more expensive option to service its needs. The meetings with DOC, ICASA and Sentech have been major steps backward and we will not allow the DOC to "close the door " on this matter in this manner . We are the only cultural community at the moment without a radio station to promote its cultures, traditions, music, and languages. We strongly believe that we are being marginalised in this regard and we look forward to the intervention of the PPCC to provide us with a viable option on equal terms as that which was made available to the other communities. We would like to request a meeting with your goodself so that we could inform you directly of our struggles to obtain a frequency and to launch our radio station. Our chairperson, Mrs Sally Padaychie, and another two officials have been mandated to travel to Cape Town to meet with your goodself. Hoping to hear from your goodself at your earliest convenience. Thanks and kind regards. Subry Govender Secretary ---------------------------------- Board of Governors: Mrs Sally Padaychie (chairperson), Mr Balan Gounden (deputy vice-chairperson), Mr Richard Naidoo (deputy vice-chairperson), Ms Kersah Govender (Treasurer), Mr Logan Naidoo, Mr Swaminathan Gounden, Mr Denis Naidoo (deputy treasurer), Mrs Thirupurisundrie Govender, Mr Sumeshen Moodley (assistant secretary) and Mr Subry Govender (secretary)" LETTER TO DR ZWELI MKHIZE BY MR DEVA POONUSAMI ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After our representations to the PPCC, we submitted a developmental report to all our supporters, funders and members about our frustrations at not being granted a frequency. One of our strongest supporters, Mr Deva Poonusami, who is now based in London, wrote the following letter to Dr Zweli Mkhize, Treasurer General of the ANC, on September 1 2015: "Deva Ponnoosami 1:36 PM (55 minutes ago) to Zweli, me Hi Zweli I hope alls well with you and the Party. I sorely miss my visits to SA which is due to my bypass op a year ago and subsequent surgery. Hopefully it wont be long before my Cardiac Consultant will clear me for long distance flying, particularly as London is undergoing some awful weather. I don't think Obed is enjoying our climate very much. Zweli I was very disheartened to receive the email below from Subry Govender regarding the long-running sad saga surrounding the application for a licence by the Southside Radio Committee, which hopefully was to serve the South Indian population, the only racial group in SA that doesn't have a dedicated station of its own. You may recall me discussing this issue with you and JZ`s office on a few occasions. It seems incredible that its now 5 years since the application was first made and in spite of the umpteen meetings with Govt Ministers, Deputy Minister, Senior officials of ICACA and other NGO`s, a definitive response is still awaited. I was in attendance at Phyllis Naidoo`s memorial service in the Durban City Hall where you as the Guest Speaker heaped praise and gratitude for the role she and other South Indians played and sacrifices made by them during the struggle years and that was something that the ANC has always recognised and never forgotten. This was a sentiment shared my our beloved Madiba as well.. It seems absolutely ironical that this very group which comprises more than 60% of SA`s Indian population is now being so marginalised and being denied a radio station which from afar can only be put down to abject bureaucracy. As you can gauge from the correspondence below the issue is being just passed from one office to another with no element of positivity at all !!! Zweli can I please seek your assistance yet again to lend your support to bring about the realisation of the Southside Radio which is long overdue. With regards Deva" HURDLE ---------------- As already mentioned we want to launch as soon as possible but the issue of a frequency continues to be a hurdle. We are still having problems and would like urgent intervention so that we could make speedy progress in the launch of our Southside FM Radio station. The late Minister, Roy Padaychee, told our cultural evening that "it's not right that you have been granted a community licence but a frequency has not yet been finalised". When he passed on in 2012, President Jacob Zuma, gave an assurance that all of Mr Padaychie's projects should be concluded successfully. Southside FM Radio is one of Mr Padaychie's projects but yet we are struggling to obtain a frequency. PROPOSITION --------------------------- In view of the importance of the contributions made by this community and the need for a radio station to promote the cultures, languages, music and traditions of this community, we would like to make the following propositions: 1. That Southside be granted an FM frequency in the main target areas of Durban and Johannesburg-Pretoria regions without any unnecessary delays. CONCLUSION ---------------------------- In conclusion, we would like to say that: Southside FM Radio will be a progressive voice - not only promoting the cultures, languages, and traditions of people of South Indian-origin but will also promote the full South African-ness of our target market. We are South Africans and will promote this fully. In view of this we have decided to promote the teaching of IsiZulu and other languages on our radio station when we start. We are being supported in our project not only by the community in general but also by cultural, linguistic, musical, social, and business leaders but also by prominent leaders who played significant roles in our struggles for our new, non-racial democracy. Our target market is not only in the Durban, north coast, south coast, Pietermaritzburg region but also in the Johannesburg-Pretoria region; Cape Town; Port Elizabeth-East London; Newcastle-Ladysmith and Richard Bay. In terms of the National Communications Policy(NCP) of the ruling ANC and the Government, it is the policy of the Government to promote cultural and community radio stations of the communities that make up our non-racial and multi-cultural society. We are puzzled as to why we cannot be accommodated when other religious and linguistic groups have been granted frequencies to promote their cultures, traditions, languages and music. We want to emphasise once again that we make up between 55 to 60 percent of the people of Indian origin in South Africa and cannot understand how this community, which has played a significant and important role in the political, social, educational and sporting struggles for the new democratic South Africa, should continue to be marginalised and sidelined. We are a progressive force and as such we should have no difficulty whatsoever of being, not only encouraged, but also assisted in our campaign to launch a cultural radio station for South Africans who are of south Indian-origin. Subry Govender Secretary ----------------------------

WORLD ENVIRONMENTALISTS CONCERNED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF FORESTS IN THEIR COUNTRIES

SAVE THE FORESTS - SAY WORLD DELEGATES

(A delegate from Indonesia)

(A delegate from the tiny West African country of Benin)

(Delegates from Nepal) (By Subry Govender) The countries of the world must come up with definite programmes to save the destruction and degradation of forests around the world. This is the view of the more than 1 000 delegates from around the world who are currently attending the week-long 14th World Forestry Congress being held in the South African coastal city of Durban. The delegates represent governments, non-government organisations, and indigenous communities from around the world. The Congress aims to build a new vision for the future of forests and forestry at all levels. This includes investments in forestry and in people in order to achieve sustainable development. The extremely large number of delegates - attending the congress at the International Conference Centree (ICC) in Durban - have come from nearly all the countries in Africa and from far afield as Russia, Japan and Argentina. Delegates have also come from lesser known countries such as Nepal and Bangladesh in South Asia and Indonesia in the Far East. The Forestry Congress, being held for the first time in Africa, has been organised under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. The delegates I spoke to say they are attending the Congress in order to highlight the destruction and degradation of forests in their own countries. They want to share the problems that deforestation causes for large sections of their people in sustaining themselves through food production and use of trees in forests for medicinal reasons.

(Mr El Haji Sen of Senegal) Mr El Haji Sen, a delegate from Senegal, told me that deforestation and misuse of forests were serious problems affecting the people in his country. "It is serious," he said, "it is taking at least 40 000 hectares of forests and bushland every year". "It is affecting people through land necessities, through the lack of safety nets for living and it is affecting people through environmental effects of deforestation and relatively desertification."

(Mr Claude Dadinja of Benin) A delegate from the tiny West African country of Benin, Mr Claude Dadinja, said the destruction of forests had not only affected food production but also the capacity of people to use the forests for their medicinal requirements. He said: "Deforestation is affecting the people in many ways. The people who rely on wood for their cooking and other needs cannot find wood any more and cooking has become very difficult. Also some trees are used for medicine in a traditional way. Now these trees are disappearing and we we don't find these trees any more to get relief and treat ourselves."

(Dr Meena Estramat of Iran) One of the delegates, who is attending the Congress to gain support for the protection of the forests in her country, is Dr Meena Estramat from the north of Iran. She told me that she was very concerned that they were losing their forests. "I believe in the forests and I have a sense of belonging to the forests but we are losing the forests," she said. "In the North of Iran we have a special heritage site called the Eukranian forests that are the same as those in Europe. But we are losing them because we are still logging the forests, we are still using the wood from those heritage sites. "In the West of Iran we have the oak forests. They are unique. About more than half of the water resources of Iran are coming from the Zuglas mountains where the forests are. But these forests are also dying," she said. She said she and two other concerned people from Iran were attending the Congress. "I am sharing our experiences with other delegates and we hope to learn from other countries. If we don't save our forests, then we are destroying the future of our children and their children," said Dr Estramat.

Mr Memdishams Uddin of Bangladesh (RIGHT) AND colleague Mr Memdishams Uddin of Bangladesh belongs to an organisation called Winrock International. The organisation is involved in promoting the green environment sustainable livelihoods. He said there were more than two million hectares of forests in Bangladesh and these were classified as Hill Forests and mangrove forests. "Most of the forests are threatened by different factors, including human pressure, other land uses and now climatic change," he said. "People look to their forests for their livelihoods and people who live around the forests depend mainly on the forests for their livelihoods. Most of the people get nearly 50 percent of their income from the forests. They are culturally linked to the forests." He said there were many programmes in Bangladesh to check the deforestation. "We have introduced the co-management approach that involves communities in food production and management." He said there had been some business people who had been involved in illegal logging but this had now been reduced through the interaction of local communities and the Government. "The communities are involved in the protection so that anyone involved in illegal logging are brought to book in the shortest time. "The government also has strong programmes to ensure that the degradation of forests don't take place. All this is done with the support of communities."

(Mr Bishwanath Oli from Nepal (Left) and a Colleague) A delegate from the earthquake-hit country of Nepal, Mr Bishwanath Oli, said unlike most countries their forests were well-managed through co-operation between the Government the local communities. "We have three different forms of forest in Nepal. These are government-controlled forests, community-based forests and private forests," he said. 'Deforestation rate has gone down and we have been successful in restoring forests and also to fulfil the demands of local communities. "We have shared our experiences in overcoming deforestation in most of the sessions we have attend here and we believe that other countries can learn from us in protecting the forests. "We are saving the forests with support from the local communities and other stakeholders. The local communities are managing almost one quarter of the forests with their active involvement and government has provided technical support for them to manage and use the forests."

(Mr Michael Onyeka, Executive Director of Greenpeace Africa) An environmental activist from Nigeria, Mr Michael Onyeka, said extensive and destructive logging was taking place in Nigeria and other countries in Africa and this was impacting on efforts to counter climate change. He said he was attending the Congress because, like all other delegates, he wanted the countries in the world to work together to protect the forests for the future of humanity. "We all need to work together because we have a common problem and that is we need the forests more than the forests need us," he said. "And we need the forests now more than ever because of the increasing impact of climate change and global warming. We need more forests to be standing to produce oxygen, to produce the available medicinal plants for indigenous communities and so on. We hope that this kind of message will go our from this conference and all parties will start working together , across countries, across borders and across organisations." The Forestry Congress, which ends on Friday, September 11, aims to unite governments, indigenous communities and non-government organisations on programmes to making forests a solution to climate change, integrating forests and other land uses and improving food security and livelihoods. The congress will also promote the use of wood as a renewable and sustainable source of energy, securing education and employment for the youth. ends - subry govender September 8 2015

APARTHEID APOLOGIST GARY PLAYER SHOULD STEP DOWN AS CAPTAIN OF THE GOLF TEAM TO BRAZIL OLYMPICS

GARY PLAYER USES MONEY AND PR TO BECOME ACCEPTABLE IN THE NEW NON-RACIAL AND DEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA By Subry Govender Gary Player was a golfing sensation and there's no doubt about that. He made good not only in South Afrca but also on the international circuits. But should he have been appointed the captain of the South African Golf Team to participate in the Olympic Games in Brazil. Retired Judge Thumba Pillay, a veteran political activist who has expressed his opposition to Player's appointment, was alo involved in anti-apartheid golf and knew at first hand the goings-on in South African golf during the struggle years.

(Papwa Sewgolum) He knew that during the struggle period, Player never came out against apartheid sport but, in fact, had played a game or two with apartheid monster John Vorster. Vorster and his men were not only responsible for denying the chance to players like Papwa Sewgolum, Vincent Tshabalala and Daddy Naidoo but they were also responsible for banning an English cricket team, with Basil D'Oliviera as a player, from visiting South Africa. Pillay is also fully aware of the deplorable incidents that took place in 1963 and 1965 when Papwa Sewgolum, after winning the Natal Open at the Durban Country Club, was presented his prize outside the club house in the rain. He beat Gary Player to win this tournament for the second time. Papwa was not allowed into the club house because apartheid laws prohibited "non-whites" from entering a legacy of colonialism. "Non-whites" were only allowed as waiters, cleaners, and servants. Gary Player was there and he never spoke out at that time.

(Vincent Tshabalala) Pillay was also fully involved during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when anti-apartheid opponents in sport and politics came under the bloody hammer of the repressive forces at that time. Poor Gary Player who was enjoying the limelight of playing and winning international golf events at that time never came out to support the anti-apartheid struggle activists. He never bothered about Hassan Howa, M N Pather, Morgan Naidoo, Norman Middleton, Paul Devadas David, Shun David, R K Naidoo, M N Govender, D K Singh, George Singh, Don Kali, and hundreds of others who were banned, house-arrested, harrassed, persecuted and denied their passports. Pillay knew that Gary Player in fact had supported right-wing organisations in England and other countries to support the cause of those involved in apartheid sport in South Africa. THE UGLY SIDE The ugly story of Gary Player also reminds me of an incident when I was on board an SAA plane, flying down from Johannesburg to Durban in the early 1970s. On board was a son of Gary Player and a host of British tourists. Player's son got talking to the tourists and I became interested in what he had to tell the British tourists. He boasted about the "good life" in South Africa and spoke about the "boys" and "girls" and "obedient servants" who were working for his father and family. To me it seemed this was the kind of language that was common in Player's home at that time. But after 1994, Player quickly realised that circumstances had changed where the "boys" and "girls" and "servants" were now in control and he began to undergo a 360 degree attitude change. It was not out of any commitment to values and principles but because of political changes. He was even able to use his "PR" personality to get Tata Nelson Mandela to acknowledge him as a great sportsman who did "a great deal for South Africa". Mandela had his reasons. There are many people like Player who changed their costumes like Hollywood and Bollywood actors and actresses in order to continue to reap the benefits, this time in the new democratic era. Player was also given new credibility when he was invited by some opportunists to join their development funds. He did not blink an eye-lid to join. "Money" it seemed could buy anything. Now the question about whether he should be the captain of the South African golf team for the Brazil Olympics? Like most people I believe that while we should "forgive and forget", I don't believe that Gary Player deserves this honour. This former apartheid apologist should not be given this benefit in our new non-racial and democratic South Africa. The likes of Middleton, M N Pather, Hassan Howa, Morgan Naidoo, Cassim Bassa, Don Kali and others - whereever they are now - would not be pleased with this development in our post-apartheid South Africa. We owe it to our struggle stalwarts that people like Gary Player should be shown the red card. ends - subry govender Sept 3 2015

GIFT OF THE GIVERS SAY THE PLIGHT OF SYRIAN AND OTHER REFUGEES IN EUROPE HIGHLIGHTS TRAGEDY OF MILLIONS DISPLACED IN SYRIA ITSELF

300 000 PEOPLE KILLED AND TENS OF THOUSANDS OTHERS INJURED AND WOUNDED SINCE 2011 By Subry Govender

While Germany, Britain, Spain, France, Italy, and other European countries are trying to cope with the thousands of Syrian and other refugees escaping from their war-torn countries, concerns are also being expressed about the tens of thousands people caught up in Syria itself. The South African-based Gift of the Givers, which has been providing medical and other assistance to thousands of Syrians caught up inside the country itself, has thanked the German president, Angela Merkel, and other European leaders for offering assistance to the Syrian refugees. "Our special thanks to Angela Merkel and the people of Germany for their enthusiastic and compassionate welcome of traumatised refugees. Thanks to all other individuals and governments whose assistance may not be publicly known. The Almighty sees and rewards. Our South African efforts continue," said Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder and Chairperson of the Gift of the Givers. Merkel, British Prime Minister Mr David Cameron, and other leaders were forced to take concrete steps to assist the migrants after the picture of a dead three-year-old Syrian boy, Aylan Kurdi, being carried by a Turkish soldier had dominated the front news pages, and the international television stations and radio media throughout the world over the past 24 hours. The young boy, his five-year-old brother, Galip, and their mother drowned in the Mediterranean after the boat in which they were escapaing to European began to take in water and sank. The tragedy led to the media and concerned people in Britain, Germany and other countries calling on their leaders to show compassion and assist the fleeing migrants. Dr Sooliman said in a statement on Friday, September 4 that the suffering of the people in Syria was immeasurable. Dr Sooliman released some pictures taken while his team helped the people caught up in the war in Syria. The released pictures were "mild" to others that his organisation had in its files. He could not impose the horror of those pictures on the general public. BARREL BOMBS, VACUUM BOMBS, CHEMICAL WEAPONS, MISSILES AND ATTACKS BY AIRCRAFTS

"The reality," said Dr Sooliman, "is that this tragedy has been unfolding since March 2011 and ever increasing in intensity to the present". "The greatest tragedy however, is INSIDE Syria, not only because of the millions of internally displaced civilians but because of the horrific crimes committed against them in various forms. "These include detention, torture, cutting off the supply of food, water, medical services, medicines, the deliberate bombing of hospitals and the specific targeting of medical personnel. The use of barrel bombs, vacuum bombs, chemical weapons, missiles and attack by aircraft on predominantly civilian populations has resulted in a death toll reaching 300 000 and casualties of immeasurable proportions." GIFT OF THE GIVERS HOSPITAL IN SYRIA ALSO REPEATEDLY ATTACKED

Dr Sooliman said Gift of the Givers response from 2013 had been concentrated almost exclusively inside Syria. "To this date the policy still remains the same. The three floor Ar Rahma Hospital that we have established and manage with a compliment of 180 medical specialists and support staff is a living witness to the humanitarian crimes inside Syria. This South African Gift of the Givers hospital has been subjected to repeated attacks by the Assad regime, fortunately, till now, it has avoided major damage. On two occasions we had to evacuate equipment, medical personnel and patients. Two months ago we received 1 700 casualties in 10 days. We have seen injuries through all kinds of weapons mentioned above including chemical weapons."

He added: "Life saving medical support, provision of food, shelter, food, milk powder, shelter, clothing, blankets, generalized feeding through a permanent kitchen and education through our involvement in schooling are our continuous efforts inside Syria." He appealed to the public to help the Gift of the Givers in their efforts in Syria. Contributions can be made into Gift of the Givers, Standard Bank, Pietermaritzburg, Account No. 052278611, Branch Code 057525. ends - Subry Govender Sept 4 2015

FOREIGN NATIONALS AFFECTED BY XENOPHOBIC ATTACKS IN SOUTH AFRICA EARLY THIS YEAR WANT TO MOVE TO A THIRD COUNTRY

(South African Nigel Kabise keeping some of the children of the foreign nationals busy in various sporting events at the Hope Farm)

(Mr Ray Wartnaby and his wife, Ray, with two of the 138 foreign nationals they have given sanctuary on their farm, Hope Farm, situated near the farming town of Cato Ridge, about 40km west of the South African city of Durban) FOREIGN NATIONALS GRATEFUL TO FARMING COUPLE WHO HAD COME TO THEIR ASSISTANCE INSPITE OF BEING BULLIED BY A LOCAL AUTHORITY By Subry Govender While refugees and migrants from north Africa and the Middle East struggle to find safe sanctuaries in some European countries, there's a group of foreign nationals in South Africa who still find themselves in a state of insecurity, six months after being displaced by xenophbic attacks early this year. The foreign nationals - including 64 children - mainly from the DRC and Burundi - have been living on a farm about 40km west of the city of Durban for the past two months after being ejected from a shut down refugee camp in a residential area called Chatsworth in Durban. They are part of the more than 5 000 foreign nationals who either went back to their home countries in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique or reluctantly re-joined the general South African society. These traumatised refugees are facing another battle after the farming couple, Mr Andrew and Mrs Ray Wartnaby, who offered them the sanctuary, have been ordered by a nearby local authority to evict the foriegn nationals. I visited the farm on Monday, August 31, and spoke to the Wartnabys and the refugees about the latest situation in which they find themselves in. The farm is situated about 6km from Cato Ridge, a farming town situated about 40km from the coastal city of Durban in South Africa. When I arrived there in the early hours of Monday morning, I found Andrew and Ray Wartnaby busy and running around to attend to the needs of the affected foreign nationals. There were also a number of volunteers who were taking care of the children in a make-shift pre-school. The innocent souls are totally unaware of the trauma that their parents are being subjected to as foreign nationals.

(Mr Patrick Rashid Lubosha of the DRC with another xenophobic attack victim at Hope Farm) Andrew and Ray Wartnaby's farm is called "Hope Farm" and they have been running their self-sufficient property for the past 11 years. They have always provided sanctuary to displaced people, especially children, because of their commitment to the values and principles of the Christian faith. They responded to the plight of the foreign nationals after they found that they had been forced out of the Chatsworth camp when it was shut down more than two months ago. They were concerned that the children had been separated from their parents who had been arrested by the police for refusing to move out of the shut down Chatsworth refugee camp. "When we heard that there was a group of people whose children had been removed we wanted to go and help specially with the children," said Mrs Ray Wartnaby, who broke away from the children she was attending to in order to relate their involvement in assisting the foreign nationals. "So we went to find out how we could help and we were told the children had been removed to a childrens' home. When their lawyer got involved they mentioned that there was a possibility that if we gave an address that the people could get their children back and they would be re-united with them. "And that was what we did. We gave our address and we said to everybody they could stay here to re-unite with their children." They were assisted by a number of religious, charity, business and human rights organisations who provided tents and food for the foreign nationals. Some of these organisations included the Islamic Relief Agency and the Gift of the Givers. But no sooner had the refugees settled down in their new camp, the Hope Farm owners had been fined for illegally accommodating the foreign nationals. They were also ordered to move out the foreign nationals by September 6.

(Mr Andrew Wartnaby and his wife, Ray, on their farm, Hope Farm) Andrew Wartnaby said a lawyer was handling the matter with the authorities. He said: "The action of the authorities does not help us because we really don't have a solution. We formed a meeting of various role players, including the municipality, and it has been expressed to us very very clearly that by the sixth of the ninth, this group of people need to be off our property but as yet we haven't been told where they must go. "There hasn't been a solution. There has only been pressure on us that they must be gone." Mrs Wartnaby said that they had been told by the foreign nationals that they don't want to stay in South Africa and that they wanted to be moved to a third country. "The group of people here want a third country," she said. "They don't want to be in South Africa any more because they have really been persecuted here in South Africa. They come from war torn countries in the DRC and Burundi, so there's no way that they can go back there. Basically they want to go to a country where they can be safe and where they can bring up their children and live in peace," said Mrs Wartnaby. The affected foreign nationals on the farm told me that they had been targeted in South Africa since 2008 and now they don't feel safe anymore in the country. They said they have appealed to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to shift them to a third country where they would be safe.

(Patrick Rashid Lubosha from the DRC. ) WE DON'T FEEL SAFE ANYMORE IN SOUTH AFRICA Patrick Rashid Lubosha, a DRC national, said he had been in South Africa for 15 years with his wife and children. During the last xenophobic attacks six months he was working in Tongaat, a town to the north of Durban. He and his family were attacked and he had lost all his possessions. He and his family first went to a refugee camp in Isipingo, south of Durban, and then later moved to Chatsworth. "We don't feel safe anymore," he said. "What we want is a third country because we cannot really live in this country any more because of insecurity which we have been facing and the violence perpetrated on us oftenly. Every time we started our lives we had been de-stabilised by the local people."

(Mr Irambona Joseph from Burundi) "I WANT TO MOVE OUT OF SOUTH AFRICA BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO DIE" Another refugee, Irambona Joseph, 45, fled Burundi 12 years ago to start a new life in South Africa. He said that while he appreciated being allowed to stay in the country and to continue his Biblical studies through correspondence, he always suffered and became a victim since the xenophobic attacks first started in 2008. He now wants to move out of South Africa through the support of the UNHCR to a third country where he would be safe with his family. He said: "I ran away from my country because of war, even here South Africa it's the same. So now I am tired of this. My future is to move out South Africa and not to return to the community because we don't like to be affected again. I don't like to die."

(Ms Bella Ishatanga from Burundi) "THE WARTNABYS ARE LIKE ANGELS" Twenty-year-old Ms Bella Ishatanga is at Hope Farm with her mother. She and her parents are from Burundi and have been in South Africa for the past 13 years. When the second phase of xenophobic attacks took place in March, she and her mother were staying with other foreign nationals in an area called Cato Manor in Durban. Their homes were attacked and they were forced to flee to a refugee camp in Isipingo and later transferred to Chatsworth. She and her mother also want to move to another country. "I left school and I don't want to stay in this country. I don't feel safe in this country and I want to go where we will be safe," said Ms Ishatanga. She said the Wartnabys' were like angels and they were grateful to them for providing them with a place to stay.

(Mr Daniele Congolo of the DRC) "I DON'T KNOW WHAT I CAN DO. MAY BE GOD WILL FIND A SOLUTION FOR US" Forty-five-year-old Daniele Congolo has been in South Africa for the past 10 years with his wife. He earned a livelihood as a car guard but was repeatedly attacked during xenophobic attacks in 2008 and early this year. "I was beaten in my house and my wife was also beaten up. The attackers then set my house on fire. Now my mind is finished, I don't know what I can do. Maybe God can bring a solution for my life," said Mr Congolo. "I want to go to a country where my wife and I can enjoy peace. I don't secure in this country any more. I have been always told by locals that I should go back home and I should not be here. I don't have a feeling of living in this country again," he added.

(South African Mr Nigel Kabise with some of the 64 children of foreign nationals. He's keeping them busy with various sports.) 'AS A SOUTH AFRICAN I FEEL ASHAMED OF WHAT HAD BEEN DONE TO OUR FELLOW BROTHERS AND SISTERS" A young South African, 24-year-old Nigel Kabise, belongs to a Christian charity organisation and he's at the farm to help the foreign nationals with their daily needs. He's ashamed that his fellow South Africans had been responsible for the traumatic condition in which the affected foreign nationals find themselves in. "It really hurts me as a South African to see what is happening to our fellow brothers and sisters." he said. "I don't think this is what we wanted as a nation. I don't see it as a way forward. These are the things that pull us back as a nation. Judging from our history and from where we come from, this sort of anguish caused to the foreign nationals is not right. I feel ashamed that we can do this sort of atrocity in our new democratic country," he said, The South African authorities are keeping tight lipped about the plight of these foreign nationals. But human rights organisations - helping the affected people - believe the South African Government wants the foreign nationals to be moved out of the farm so that they could integrate themselves in South African communities. But the affected people do not see this as a solution. They want the United Nations to help them to move to a third country where they would be able to lead normal lives without being the targets of xenophobic attacks on a regular basis. - ends sg/dbn September 1 2015