Friday, 20 January 2012

Way cleared for radio station to buy house

Mthonjaneni municipal Manager André Els has given the assurance that a municipality-owned house will be disposed of in a fair and legal manner. No objections to a proposed sale had been lodged by the 17 January deadline. A ripple of dissent had filtered through the town when the municipality announced, in a legal notice on 12 December, that it was selling the house - Erf 371 or 10 Reinhold Street - to the radio station Zululand FM. Many believed the municipality was legally bound to hold a public auction but Els said supply-chain regulations allowed a sale either on a one-on-one basis or on auction. But the rules preclude them from selling to councillors or other municipal officials.

The radio station will have to produce a bank guarantee for the purchase price (R680 400 - the market value) before it can take occupation. Should the sale fall through, an auction may be the next option. Els said the municipality believes Zululand FM would be an asset to the town, and hopefully would attract other businesses. The radio station has the second largest radio audience in SA, said its Director, Dr Bhekisisa Ngcobo. They relocated to Melmoth from Ulundi in November, and are currently in rented offices. Ngcobo said they had left Ulundi because of the more beneficial topography in Melmoth.‘We now reach areas we never reached in the past, such as Paulpietersburg and Vryheid,’ he said.

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