The week the board news landed, every outlet ran the same story, which was fair, because it is a good one. Wilson B. Nkosi, a broadcaster with four decades behind him, who was on the launch team at Radio Metro in 1986 and who spent his school years in Eswatini, is the new Chairman. Princess Sakhizwe Dlamini, Tom Lin, Mlibatisi Sibusiso Kunene and Zanele Nyawo sit beside him. It is a board with a bit of everything: culture, enterprise, law and accounting. We wanted to hear about the radio part, so we went to the owner.
Zox's idea is simple, and he explains it without fuss. A listener should tune in and tune out knowing something they did not know before. He wants the station's prime time slots to carry weight, which means informing people, educating them, and raising awareness about things that affect their lives. He pointed out that radio often gets filed under gossip and music, and he is not offended by that. He just thinks it sells the medium short. A morning show can make you laugh over your coffee and also explain what that new regulation means for your small business. Those two jobs fit together fine.
None of this means he has gone serious on us. Music stays. Chat stays. Zox is clearly a man who enjoys a good laugh and expects his presenters to as well. His point is about what happens when the laughing stops, and the listener switches off the radio. He would like that person to be a little better informed than when they switched it on. As far as ambitions go, I think that is a good one to have. It is also quite hard to do on a Tuesday morning when the traffic is bad, and the presenter has lost the CD.
The core mandate, he told us, is still promoting local. That means local music, local voices and local creatives, who have spent years being very good at what they do with very few places to be heard. He sees the station as a stage and a megaphone in one. A young poet, a producer working out of a bedroom, a comedian whose whole audience is currently his cousins: these are the people he wants on air. Informing the public and backing local talent are the same project, as he sees it. A country that hears itself talking tends to understand itself better.
That brings us to the licence, which is where the story really starts. Sakha Live FM holds a Free-to-Air commercial radio licence from the Eswatini Communications Commission, ESCCOM, which regulates broadcasting in the Kingdom. It was awarded together with a second licence to Icon Connect Radio, so two new commercial voices are arriving at once.
The invitation to apply, published by ESCCOM, noted that the Commission had not previously granted any commercial radio licence, and it described the exercise as a way to widen the market and bring more competition and jobs. The licensing sits under the Broadcasting Act of 2023.
When the licences were announced, Zox said the news could not have come at a better time, according to the Eswatini Observer. He also said he hopes it opens the door for more local players, because the country has plenty of talented and inventive people who simply never got a chance to try their ideas on air.
ESCCOM's acting Chief Executive, Ozzie Thakatha, was equally clear about the other side of the bargain. Compliance with the Act, its regulations and the licence conditions is non-negotiable, and missing the prescribed deadlines could lead to regulatory action, including revocation. In other words, the licence is a gift with homework attached. Anyone who has ever been handed a puppy will understand.
This is where the new board earns its seat. Nkosi's first priority, in his own words, is to establish a strong corporate governance foundation. It is not the sort of line that gets quoted on a T-shirt, but it matters a great deal for a station that has to meet licence conditions, pay its fees and build a business all at once.
Having an attorney who knows commercial and intellectual property law, an accountant who specialises in tax and compliance, and an entrepreneur who has run a multi-sector company for 25 years is a sensible way to go about it. Add a Princess who leads the Imbali Regiment and a broadcaster with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and you have a group that can handle both the paperwork and the personality.
Zox's brand of radio asks something of everyone involved. Presenters have to know their subjects. Producers have to find guests who can explain things without putting the audience to sleep.
Advertisers have to be comfortable with a station whose prime time is meant to be useful as well as popular. Listeners, meanwhile, get the easiest job: keep the dial where it is and learn a few things by accident. Radio has always been good at that. People have been picking up the news, a recipe and a new favourite song from the same speaker for a hundred years.
We left the interview thinking about how rare it is for a new station to announce itself with a purpose and not only a playlist. Plenty of launches promise good vibes and the best music. Sakha Live FM is promising those too, along with a prime time slot that treats you as someone worth informing. If it manages that, the person calling in from Matsapha will still get his dedication played, and he might also know a bit more about the week ahead than he did before.
Eswatini now has two new commercial radio stations, a fresh board and a youth-focused newcomer with a plan to make airtime count. The licence is in hand, and the homework is set. I will be tuning in, and I plan to tune out slightly cleverer.
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