About Us
Zibonele FM was established in 1993, and officially obtained its broadcasting licence in August 1995,
which made it the 1st official community radio station in the Country. In its establishment stages, Zibonele operated in a shipping container, in Town Two (one of Khayelitsha localities). The vision of the community radio was spearheaded by Dr Gabrielle Ugotti who is a medical practitioner from Argentina and Healthcare Worker. The main purpose was to inform and educate the community about health care issues, especially to deal with rampant spread of tuberculosis and other prevalent diseases.
“Zibonele” translates to “experience for yourself,” and the station has kept that name, with tagline: “Iziko lam, Iziko lakho, Iziko labantu” which translate to “My station, Your station, The People’s station”. The tagline was later reviewed to “We cover your airwaves like no other station” and the current tagline is “Silapho Ukhoyo” which translate to “we are where you are”.
Zibonele FM broadcasted essential health information, but it also evolved into a means to share local news, keeping community healthy and up to date on current political news, local music, and talk show. The talk content covers issues that directly affect the community such as news, education, religion, current affairs, business development, technology, sports, traffic, weather, motivation, and politics.
This information is sourced from the Internet, government sources and pre-recorded audio, local news, eyewitness news and from the community members.
The latest audience research ratings for Zibonele FM stands at 236 000.00 listeners, which majority of listeners are between the ages of 18 and 45 years, and proven to be economically active. Two research institutions have confirmed that Zibonele FM is the 3rd largest community radio station in the country and the largest in the Western Cape Province.
Zibonele FM Accolades
2006 – Consumer Journalist of the Year: Department of Trade and Industry
2013 – News Reader of the Year: MTN Radio Awards
2014 – Station of the Year: Media Diversity and Development Agency
2016/2017 – Best Radio Station of the Year: National Community Radio Week
2016/2017 – Finalist (Ilitha Lakho Breakfast Show, Sport Programme, and Current Affairs
Programme) Liberty Awards.
Zibonele FM is fully compliant with the following legislative bodies ICASA, SAMRO, Companies act.
Tune in to 98.2 FM!! #SilaphoUkhoyo #StationOfTheYear #ZiboneleFM
