GaySA Radio kicks off fundraising campaign

GaySA Radio needs your help to keep broadcasting to the world.

Since starting it’s online radio service more than a year ago, the unpaid volunteers at GaySA Radio have had to fund their participation in this unique radio station out of their own pockets.

The presenters come from various parts of Gauteng and each of them has subsidised their own participation.

When the team took on hate speaking pastor Steven Anderson last year, they did this with no resources, except sheer determination. They won the case with the help of the pro bono service of attorney Coenraad Kukkuk.

All the costs of the station have so far been carried by the founding members, who have dug deep into their own pockets to pay for the various costs to keep the station operational, including internet, streaming, telephone, equipment, and so on.

The only funds that have been donated to the station have been in the form of a small grant from the US Embassy in Pretoria, which helped the station stay operational for a period of three months. The Department of Communications has indicated that they do not fund internet radio, so there seems to be no help from government.

“GaySA Radio provides an important voice for the still much-persecuted lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer plus (LGBTQ+) community, which in recent weeks has seen a spike in violence and murders perpetrated against it,” said Station Manager Hendrik Baird. Through its various programmes, GaySA Radio addresses various aspects of importance to the community, while playing an important activist role.

“GaySA Radio needs the support of the community to grow its service and to eventually obtain a frequency from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA),” said Baird. “ICASA is not currently giving out licenses because of a whole range of problems, but as soon as they do reopen the process GaySA Radio wants to be strong enough to stand at the front of the queue to get onto terrestrial radio nationwide. The Internet has enabled GaySA Radio to reach listeners in 194 countries, proving this is a much needed global service.”

To strengthen the station, GaySA Radio is launching a range of fundraising efforts. As a registered non-profit (NPO 181-316) all donations are tax deductible. In order to relieve its most pressing cash flow problems, the station is asking you to give up just one good bottle of wine for the month and instead donate at least R100 into the station’s bank account.

As it costs roughly thirty thousand rand per month to keep the station running in its present format, only 1,000 people are needed to make a small donation of R100 each to keep the lights (and internet) on for the next three months

More exciting fundraising efforts are being planned, which include events at LGBTQ+ venues, working together with theatre productions, a raffle where you can win accommodation at a guesthouse and a ‘Gaymazing Race’ (more details real soon!).

For the moment, however, GaySA Radio is asking you for two things: A small donation of R100 to be paid into the NPO bank account; and that you start listening to GaySA Radio if you have internet access. “Only by growing the station from inside and out will we have a solid chance of getting an ICASA license,” said Baird.

Support the LGBTQ+ community by adding your voice to that of GaySA Radio. Bank account details: GaySA Radio Thando, FNB, Branch 251037, Cheque account 62696183624.

GaySA Radio is Africa’s only online LGBTQ+ radio station, transmitting over the Internet and on the smartphone app available for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry here. You can also advertise on GaySA Radio (email info@gaysaradio.co.za for the rate card).