Radio Pulpit awarded broadcasting licence after 27 years

The class license has effect from the beginning of November and has been awarded for one medium wave transmitter, AM 657 kHz, the footprint of which covers the greater Gauteng area and large parts of neighbouring provinces.

Dr Roelf Petersen, Chief Executive Officer of Radio Pulpit has reacted in the following manner: “We are delighted and thankful that ICASA has finally decided to award Radio Pulpit a legitimate and legal status. It is definitely a breakthrough for which we thank the Lord. Radio Pulpit has now for the first time in its 27 year history, a legal broadcasting platform from which we can broadcast the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This in itself is a miracle.

“We are however a bit disappointed that ICASA did not award the full license that we applied for. Our vision is to broadcast the Gospel message to every South African in the language of their choice and that is why our initial application was for a number of frequencies covering all the provinces where Radio Pulpit has listeners. The official number of listeners over the past years show a national listenership of more than 600 000 listeners from all population groups. Further more we have presented to ICASA during our license hearings with petitions of more than 250 000 listeners, most of whom reside outside Gauteng, where we requested the authority to recognise their interests. Despite the officially published listener numbers, this is conclusive evidence of the countrywide need and support of Radio Pulpit's broadcasts,” Dr Petersen said.

ICASA's decision means that about 40% of the station's established listeners will be able to tune in via conventional radio broadcasts. “This is definitely not acceptable to us and we are already in consultation with our legal team to discuss future possibilities for further applications. ICASA also left a door open for such applications in their license notice. We believe that our listeners have an established right to listen to our programmes wherever they are in South Africa and we will go ahead with our plans to develop a wider broadcasting capacity, even if it takes an indefinite period of time,” Dr Petersen concluded.