The station has recently relocated from its old premises at Extension Two to an upmarket suite at the new Fairground Mall.
“Our biggest achievement is that we are a successful business, which is run by the youth. The fact that we have given employment to young people is testimony of the success of the radio station,” says the youthful station manager Dumi Lopang, adding that they have made their detractors eat humble pie. “Our success is a testimony to the people who felt that youth cannot do anything.”
He describes his colleagues as responsible and capable individuals. Yarona FM has a staff compliment of 25.and since they have a small staff turnover, each employee plays multi roles. Commenting on other achievements, he says, Yarona FM has been instrumental in promoting local musicians especially Kwaito artists. “We have played a big role in sponsoring musicians to start up,” he says.
In addition, the radio station hosts a talent search programme to identify and unearth raw talent. Some of the musicians they have unearthed, he says, include the high riding Stagga and Scar. According to Lopang, the radio station has also played a leading role in the war against HIV/AIDS. He says they have worked with Non Government Organisations (NGOs) in the crusade against AIDS.
Lopang mentions that they have also assisted orphans in and around Gaborone by making donations. Orphans at Ben Thema Primary School have been some of their beneficiaries.
The radio station is also running a school outreach programme on career guidance and counselling “We try to educate the youth about making wise career choices. We are trying to emphasise the importance of education to them,” he says.
Lopang discloses that they are also planning to become more involved in sports by sponsoring interschool tournaments. “We believe if the youth could play sports, this could distract them from other social evils,” he asserts.
He says they are also intending to establish a clothing label that would utilise the services of young Batswana designers. Another plan in the pipeline is that of publishing a magazine that would cover cultural and youth issues. “There is a problem of balancing globalisation with our own culture. We are trying to strike a balance to inform the youth to be appreciate of Western culture but don’t forget setso sa rona,” he says.
Regarding business, the Yarona boss said they are not doing badly but initially it was tough when they commenced operations. He recalls that when they set up shop, advertisers preferred to do business with the government owned commercial radio station, RB II because it was cheaper.
“When we started we had to educate the advertisers about the benefits of advertising on radio. Most advertisers were using newspapers,” he says, adding that they did not understand the electronic media.
Lopang says their education campaign paid dividends as things improved tremendously the following year, adding that both Yarona and Gabz FM covered the market extensively. “In 2001 we started to gain the benefits from our marketing,” he says.
However, the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT), in 2002 impacted negatively on their business. Lopang says that VAT hit the consumers very hard and as a result they reduced their spending. This culminated in retailers placing less advertisements.
The devaluation of the Pula also affected business negatively, he says. “Since last year business has been tough. We are surviving because we are keeping our running costs at a minimal,” he says.
Lopang believes that things would only improve after some legislation has been passed in Parliament to enable private radio stations to broadcast nation-wide. He sees the newly drafted broadcasting policy as a blue print on how the national broadcasters would operate in Botswana.
Otherwise, Lopang feels that they are not competing on an equal footing with RB II because it is broadcasting nationally with slashed advertising rates. He says when privately owned radio stations started operating, RB II went nationally to evade competition. But he says, RB II is still charging the same advertising rates as regional radio stations. “Until recently they were cheaper than us but offering national coverage. They have been applying guerilla tactics to pull us down,” he says.
As a youthful radio station, Yarona was bound to court controversy by addressing issues that might sound unpalatable to the average listener. But Lopang says they have never run into trouble with the authorities. “We have not been sanctioned by the Botswana Telecommunications Authority (BTA) for using unacceptable language.” Of course he admits that certain issues are regarded as taboo, but Yarona has always challenged this myth, opening flood gates in the process.
“People say that we use unsavoury language. But we only use language that a lot of people are not familiar with. You can’t talk about AIDS/HIV without discussing sexuality.
Unfortunately we shall continue to discuss sexual matters. We encourage debates on issues that are normally swept under the carpet,” he says, adding that there have been a few instances when people have complained about racist remarks or jokes that were aired.
Lopang admits that when they started broadcasting, they had not fine-tuned their act. “People only listened to us because we were the first privately owned radio station to go on air. However, we have improved over the years,” he said.
