Poor attendance at BCR FM birthday bash

BARBERTON – The birthday bash of a well-known community radio station,

BCR FM to celebrate 16 years of broadcasting, was a damp squib with poor organisation and a very low crowd turnout. It took place at Umjindini Stadium during the weekend.

It was a shadow of its former self when such celebrations attracted hordes of people to the town.

Even though things didn’t go the way it had been planned, local gospel artists came in their numbers to entertain the meagre people who were in attendance. This included people who came all the way from Malalane.

Local artists who performed included the likes of Sipho Langa, Goodman Mgibe, Mkhatshwa, Pastor Nombulelo and Khanyisile Nkuna.

It’s believed that Mandela’s death and the early Christmas for children that was hosted by the Motsepe Foundation in conjunction with Mbombela Local Municipality, might have contributed to the poor turnout.

Speaking to Mpumalanga News, the station manager of BCR FM, Mr Mduduzi Zulu said, “Everything was well organised. Our celebration was divided in two sessions, the first one being a gospel one, and the second kwaito. That’s why we called it a 06:00 to 18:00. We faced challenges during the gospel session as it didn’t attract many people.

He indicated that in the future they were going to separate the two sessions. “In future we are planning to host it on separate days because we have learned that some of the community members didn’t understand the word ‘birthday bash’, especially Christians. Some were saying that it was a kwaito thing, but as our station caters for all people, gospel was also included.

Another thing is that it was R30 entrance fee at the stadium. Normally it was free, but this time they were supposed to pay. In the second session the house was on fire as our supporters started to pour in, in numbers. From 18:00 everything went smooth until the morning,” he concluded.