Internal conflict shuts down radio station
The radio station was closed on December 13 and has been off air since.
Port Shepstone’s oldest radio station, Radio Sunny South, has been forced to close its doors due to what is believed to be infighting.
In December 2023, a letter allegedly from community and staff members of the station was circulated which called for the station manager, Sphiwe Yeni to step down among other things.
The radio station was closed on December 13 and has been off air since.
Speaking to Fever recently, Yeni and the chairperson of the station’s board of directors, Bhekani Sincadu allegedly accused some staff members of changing the locks to the radio station, to prevent other staff members from working.
Meanwhile, some of the staff members are allegedly accusing Yeni of being incompetent and interfering in work that does not concern him.
They also revealed that Yeni failed to renew Radio Sunny South’s broadcasting licence on time, on numerous occasions, despite being constantly reminded by other managers from the station.
Yeni and Sincadu did not deny that the station’s broadcasting licence expired.
“We are in a situation where our radio station is closed and its closure is due to many problems, some of them are solvable and some we are in the process of solving,” said Sincadu, adding that as the board of directors they had not been aware that the station was closed.
He said he received a call from one of the radio personalities, Siyabonga Zakuza, confirming that the station was closed and they were behind it.
“He (Zakuza) then pointed out that they had concerns regarding the station and the manager, however they were not heard by the board so they chose to close the station. Another issue is that the station manager had requested that some work be done by the head of the station’s news department, Amon Nhlumayo but he refused,” said Sincadu.
Nhlumayo said the tension between him and Yeni was caused after he enquired about a story he was covering in the St Faith’s area in September 2023.
He said he refused to send Yeni anything because he had sent the story to the station and it was about to be aired.
“This whole commotion was started by the station manager, we then realised that he did not know his job which is why we called for him to step down,” said Nhlumayo.
On the other hand, Zakuza said the station manager allegedly wanted to fire Nhlumayo.
Yeni told Fever that he had been trying to hold meetings with the staff of Radio Sunny South and its board of directors. He said all his attempts failed, adding that a meeting called by the board on December 22 was not attended by the people who felt aggrieved.
He said the public should know that the station remains closed until they can ensure safety of all radio presenters who do decide to go back to work, while they are trying to sort the issue out.
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