Soweto TV

Soweto Community Television (Soweto TV) is a South African community television channel broadcasting in the biggest township in South Africa, Soweto. The channel is free-to-air in Gauteng Province and it also broadcasts to South African subscribers on the DStv pay TV service on channel 251 and Starsat on channel 488.

The channel's main studios are situated on one of the most popular streets in Soweto, Vilakazi Street; well known for being the only street in the world to have the historical residences of two Nobel Prize winners, namely Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The channel also has studios in Diepkloof, near the largest hospital in Africa, The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa.

Soweto TV was founded in 2005 by Force Khashane, who was the Chapirperson of Soweto TV until his death in 2009; and also founded by Ephraim Tshepo Thafeng, who was then both the CEO and head of marketing for the community channel then. The channel received a 24-day special events broadcasting licence, from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) which would see the it broadcasting eight hours a day, from 26 November 2005 till mid-December. Despite financial constraints, which was made easier by the connecting and marketing skills of the late Enver Buys, who helped to find funding and content, Soweto TV started broadcasting to millions of Soweto residents from Saturday, 26 November as scheduled.

This major task was made possible by many pioneering volunteers, including "MoihSan" Michael Ragebult, a freelance engineer from SABC. Michael was recruited by Tshepo Thafeng to select the TV equipment, to transport it to Soweto, eventually to build, maintain and supervise the 2005 Broadcasting studio at the Old Post Office in Dobsonville, Soweto. Michael's tasks also included the training of the volunteers in the operation of all the TV equipment and to guarantee the quality of the daily TV signals broadcast live via the microwave link that he rigged on top of the roof of the Dobsonville shopping centre.[see the Citizen newspaper write-up of November/December 2005]. Cosmas Tshabalala,the SABC Out-Broadcast Technical Manager, contributed greatly in the approval, the supply of the equipment and the technical support he offered throughout the broadcasting period.

The month-long broadcast was themed, 'World Aids Day' which falls on 1 December. The Dobsonville Shopping Mall provided some funding for basic staff needs, while the state-owned SABC financed the studio and installation. Volunteers; people like the late Force Khashane, Maril,Smarty Oliphant, media students from the community, team from GDTV namely Sthembiso Xaba, Nkalipho Nesheshe and Thami Mpisane provided manpower for the duration of the broadcasts.

Following the success of the broadcast, the channel received another special events broadcasting licence in 2006 and they completed another successful broadcast.

In 2007, the Soweto TV received a longer license which would see it broadcasting for a year. The license meant the channel would be live and uninterrupted for 24 hours a day from 1 July 2007 until 30 June 2008.

In May 2008, the channel submitted an application for a new licence, but the expiry date for the previous license, came and went without the channel receiving a new license due to a back-log at ICASA. The channel's future seemed uncertain despite successfully broadcasting for a year. Despite not having a license, the channel was allowed to continue broadcasting whilst ICASA was processing the application, though terms of the Electronic Communications Act of 2005, which stated that: no-one may broadcast without a licence.