Zone Radio off air after losing legal battle

Far south radio station Zone Radio has been forced off the air following a legal battle with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa).

The Pretoria High Court dealt the station a devastating blow on Tuesday July 23, after the station applied for an urgent interdict to stop Icasa pulling the plug.

Zone Radio was forced to switch off its transmitter at midnight on Tuesday.

The station sought an interdict following Icasa’s refusal to renew its broadcasting licence, despite several attempts.

A lawyer who helped the station, John McKnight, said the ruling was “incomprehensible” and surprising as they had had a “very compelling case”.

The station’s attempt to prevent Icasa from pulling it off the air while it resolved its licensing issues had failed at the first hurdle, he said.

Judge Mandlenkosi Motha denied the request for an injunction, ruling against the station, with costs, on an issue that Icasa had not even contested. The judge said the station had not proved that it would suffer harm if taken off the air.

“The judge picked it (his reasoning) out of thin air, which was very surprising and upsetting,” Mr McKnight said, adding that the outcome would impact not only the station but also advertisers and the community at large.

The station operated on a “shoestring budget” and had been represented by a Pretoria lawyer with high court appearance rights to save the costs of an advocate, while Icasa had instructed senior counsel, he said.

“The cost order is devastating both financially and psychologically,” he said, adding that it was expected to exceed R100 000 on top of the legal costs.

The station, founded five years ago by Richard Griggs and his partner, Judy Robertson, has been embroiled in a legal battle with Icasa since January this year about renewing its low-power broadcasting licence.

Ms Robertson said every broadcast licence issued by Icasa had to be renewed every five years and Zone Radio’s had been up for renewal in January this year.

Last year, she said, they had contacted Icasa to enquire about the renewal process and requirements.

“We were instructed to submit our application in January 2024, without a specific date given. We submitted our renewal application on January 25, only to have it rejected because it should have been submitted by January 23,” she said, adding that the two-day delay was the sole reason for the rejection.

She said Icasa said they should submit a new application but it was also rejected, as was a subsequent one, each costing the station a non-refundable application fee of R7 500.

Icasa had argued that their studio was not located in a shopping mall, she said.

Initially, she said, they had planned to be in Sun Valley Mall when they had launched the original application five years ago, but that plan had fallen through after the licence had been granted, and, as the Broadcast Act allowed for "other commercial premises", they had moved to their current location in Cruiser Close, Sun Valley, registered as a commercial site.

“We notified Icasa of the address change in writing, and there was no objection at the time. All our monthly compliance reports included this address, and Icasa never raised it as an issue. Now it is being cited as a reason for rejecting our applications,” she said.

She said that according to Icasa, they should be in a mall and restrict their broadcasts to the mall, which was impractical since a radio signal could not be contained within a single building.

“By nature, a one-watt transmitter will carry the signal to a radius of five to 10 kilometres.”

Another reason for rejection, she said, was that Icasa claimed that a signal broadcast by 5FM from a transmitter in Paarl, about 100 km away, would interfere with their frequency of 88.5fm and negatively impact Zone Radio’s broadcasts.

“In the five years we have broadcast on 88.5, this has never been the case, and there have been no complaints about interference from 5FM or us. Now, for reasons that defy logic, this is suddenly a problem and a basis for rejecting our spectrum license.”

She said the station was now forced to broadcast online as Icasa had no control over online broadcasts.

Despite having a large online audience, she said, it was not only a blow to the station but the many listeners in the valley, especially the elderly, who were not able to stream online.

“We deeply appreciate each one of you, our listeners, and are genuinely grateful for your support. We are also deeply indebted to our advertisers and sponsors, most of whom have confirmed their continued support,” she said.

The station has started a BackaBuddy campaign to raise funds for its outstanding legal costs.

Mr McKnight said the station would not stop until it got its licence back.

Despite acknowledging the Echo’s emailed questions, Icasa did not respond by time of publication.