Broadcast Media Africa sat down with Ms Zukiswa Potye, the Chief Executive Officer of Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), South Africa, which is a statutory development agency for promoting and ensuring media development and diversity under the #IndustryLeadersSpeak series, which consists of a conversation with key industry leaders within the broadcasting and media sector across the African continent.
In understanding the need for sustainability within the community media sector, which Ms Potye described as either geographic or an interest group, i.e. community radio station, newspaper and television station.
BMA asked, where does MDDA get the bulk of their funding from?
To which Ms Potye answered that they have a two-pronged approach to which they acquire their funds, one being a grant from the government, which constitutes about 30 per cent of the organisation’s total funds, and the majority of the funds come from commercial broadcasters through the law of universal access levy which compels them to pay 0.2 per cent of their annual revenue to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) or the organisation.
The other means the agency acquires money is through foreign donors and any other legal way.
The agency, however, is looking at a sustainability model nationwide in which they seek to understand what is happening in the geographical areas where they develop or have built entities and what the root cause of them is not being sustainable.
The agency is biased to those who publish in print and indigenous languages but still try to ensure that all these entities are not heavily reliant on funding so that the organisation can reach other areas.
Watch a snippet of Ms Zukiswa Potye as she highlights where the MDDA gets the bulk of their funding.