MEYERTON. – What started of with a single desk in a dusty corner, with a single microphone is now a fully-fledged radio station for the community of Midvaal.
Midvaal Community Radio (MCR) was officially launched on Friday, July 12.
The radio station is committed to serving the community of Midvaal and playing only the best music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
The station is manned by Van Wyngaard (station manager) and fellow presenters André Britz, Jeffrey Stevens, Simbi and DJ Trend.
“We are the platform for the local community…We put this together for the community of Midvaal,” says Donovan van Wyngaard of MCR.
Speaking at the launch Van Wyngaard explained how it all started: “We started a company called Just Radio two years ago. We are in partnership with a company called STS. We have amassed a total of 2.8 million listeners in the past two years on a national level.”
“We then decided that we live in Midvaal and we have got to do something for our local community, because (at that stage) there was no radio station in Midvaal. We said: Let us do something for our local community. We got together with mr. Timmi Chen (a local businessman) and decided to do something for our local community,” Van Wyngaard explains.
Van Wyngaard emphased that the radio station is not there to make money.
“The radio station is not there to make money. We make a bit of money, so that we can survive…but we are there for the community of Midvaal,” Van Wyngaard said.
JustRadio is a subscription service that is available for R20 per week. The station is available at no cost to listeners.
Speaking at the launch of the station, Alderman Peter Teixeira, Executive Mayor of the Midvaal Local Municipality said: “I think today is a very proud moment for us, as Midvaalians, and especially as a municipality.”
“You know, I was one of the first people who were actually invited to come an do an interview at the studio. There was just a desk in the corner and it was a mike here and we would talk in this manner,” Teixeira said.
“I always knew, when I stepped into that studio that you were going to grow from strength to strength and today is personally a proud moment to see how the station has grown. It has come with a lot of sacrifice from yourself and everybody that has been involved and this is a true indication that hard work pays off,” he said.
Teixeira invited local businesses to support the station.
