WeeklySA_AdminCHARITY: Soweto businesswoman Nomonde Mbekeni (right) joined Mrs Mpumalanga Finalist 2023 finalist Jabulile Mkhwanazi to bring a smile to needy school children at Nancy Shiba School in Emalahleni, where they both handed shoes to 50 pupils. A chance discussion between Mbekeni, who is CEO of Elegant Class Consulting, elicited a mention by Mkhwanazi that she was working on a pet project involving sourcing shoes for needy schoolchildren in Mpumalanga as part of her community outreach programme linked to her work as Mrs Mpumalanga Finalist 2023.
Said Mbekeni: “When Mrs Mpumalanga Finalist told me about her fund-raising drive, I didn’t think twice and requested her to send me the list. As a product of a school principal mother, I regard education as key to self-fullfilment and so decided to buy 50pairs of shoes for the Nancy Shiba Primary schoolkids. The smiles on those kids’ faces made me sleep well later that night as we are living our values and purpose as a company”.
HOT FM HEATS UP GLOBAL AIRWAVES
CATEGORIES: Joburg-based radio flies SA flag on world stage with global recognition…
By WSAM Correspondent
With only two years certified as a commercial station in the South African radio landscape, HOT 102.7FM has proven that is as hot as its name suggests.
The station was nominated in the annual 2023 New York Festivals Radio Awards (NYFRA) at the historic night held in Las Vegas, in the US earlier this week.
HOT 102.7 FM station was initially nominated in seven categories at this year’s NYFRA episode and only four nominations made it to the final status of the awards. As the only station in South African radio history of over 100 years, HOT 107.2FM is the only station to feature in the world class NYFRA, which confirms the world class quality the station offers.
The station’s nominations will go head-to-head with the world’s radio giants like BBC, Al Jazeera, Radio Canada, Ireland’s RTE Radio 1, USA based Sirus XM station and Virgin Radio from United Kingdom, just to name a few.
HOT 102.7FM 2023 NYFRA nominations that have made it to the final stage of the awards are:
* Morning Drive/Afternoon Programming: Best Music/Personality Show (Joburg’s Hottest Breakfast show)
* Best Station ID Imaging
* Best News Special Report (The Bully Chain)
* Best News Documentary /Special (Jenny Boekwurm).
The elated Lloyd Madurai, managing director of HOT 102.7FM, said, “From Northriding to New York!” “This is not just a great story for HOT 102.7FM and amazing validation and reward for all the hard work put in by the team over the past two years, but it’s also a great story for South African radio, showing the industry in this country that we can hold our own on the stage.”
“We are blown away by this global recognition, but it’s no more than my team deserve. A lot of hard work has gone into crafting the sound and overall offering of HOT 102.7FM and to be recognized on the world stage is just great affirmation of the path the station is on, which includes building a loyal listenership and delivering results for our commercial partners” lamented Madurai.
“It is incredible that with just only 21 months of existence as a commercial station, and HOT 102.7FM gets such a global recognition from the NYFRA, which is also known as ‘the Oscars of the radio industry’. It is great to fly the flag for South African radio and show the world that we are capable of producing world-class radio down here at the tip of Africa”.
HOT 102.7FM was formed in 1997, having secured a community radio licence to broadcast from broadcast regulatory authority, Icasa, and later took over the Classic FM commercial licence in 2021.
Madurai said HOT 102.7FM was so hugely confident in the quality of the radio they’ve been producing since its inception in July 2021, that they decided to test and measure themselves against the best in the world by sending in 17 entries.
“From those entries, the organisers informed us that HOT 102.7FM had been nominated in seven categories, and four nominations were awarded the ‘finalist’ status”.
According to Madurai, HOT 102.7FM would continue to build on what is achieved thus far, and not rest on its laurels, by improving the on-air product. “We will keep giving our audiences what they want, in terms of ‘Old-Skool and R&B music, and entertaining content while creating platform for brands to advertise”.
HOT 102.7FM was awarded with most voted station accolade ‘My Station – Most Votes’ during the 2022 South African Radio Awards and they will be unveiling fresh new line-up from 2 May.
The 65 year old NYFRA honours radio content in all lengths and formats and across all platforms, from radio stations, networks, and independent producers from around the world.
Embracing all aspects of the radio and audio industries, the categories “mirror today’s global trends and encourage the next generation of story-tellers.
Published on the 95th Edition
