BY MICHELINA ANDREUCCI
The transistor radio was launched in 1948 by Bell Laboratories. This allowed radios to become more compact and affordable.
The transistor also made radios portable and cheap; freeing them from their reliance on electricity supply, which was not available in most African homes at the time. The smallest radios could fit in a shirt pocket.
Within a few years the transistor radio came into mass production and the simple Saucepan Specials became historical memories. Over the next two decades, except for cathode ray picture tubes, transistors replaced tubes almost completely.
Radios, the truly wonderful ‘Great Spirit’ in a small box penetrated our soul and mind and left an indelible image. it forced your imagination to take you to spaces your eye could not see – a stage for the mind and theatre for the blind. They became a status symbol, coveted to such an extent that they were incorporated in our cultural schemes; radios were often demanded as part of lobola – a bride price.
In the 1970’s, the radio for Zimbabweans was one of the most persuasive symbols of city life. A newly purchased possession such as a transistor, gramophone or radiogram, was taken outdoors for the benefit and/or irritation of the neighbours, much like the urban dweller today who sits in his car with his car radio blaring out at full throttle. Or more recently walking about with smartphones blaring distortedly.
During Zimbabwe’s War of Liberation (1965-1979), the love for the radio also wrecked untold damage on guerrilla combatants fighting in the bush against the Rhodesian army which had developed horrendous strategies in their attempt to frustrate their enemy’s operations. Amongst them the Rhodesians fitted radios with frequency modulating devices that would explode when radios were switched on.
The Broadcasting Act (in Zimbabwe) was promulgated in 1957 during the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland; a legal framework which ZBC followed after independence. During the minority Rhodesian era, the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) was controlled by the Rhodesian government’s department in the Ministry of Information, which used radio and television effectively as instruments for propaganda for preserving colonial white domination and its values through the dissemination of white minority ideology to the local populace.
Radios in Zimbabwe were manufactured by local enterprises such as Supersonic Radio Manufacturing and WRS. FM radio sets aptly branded with the name “Chief” were distributed by Ian Smith to Zimbabwean traditional chiefs in rural areas, in the hope they would sway the indigenous countrymen to turn against the guerrillas.
Other radios were manufactured during the Liberation War period under the name “Commando”, which were issued to Rhodesian soldiers fighting in the bush, in an endeavour to keep up their morale. For their benefit and psychological welfare, radio programmes were aired through which they could relay messages to loved ones and request favourite songs. “Forces Requests” was a favourite with Sally Donaldson on Saturday afternoon.
During the war years of the 1970s news broadcasts were essential for the people of Zimbabwe;
transistor radios were coveted especially by the freedom fighters in the field. Knowing this, the
Selous Scouts and Special Branch of the Rhodesian armed forces fitted transistor radios, with secret homing transmitters, effective within a 50 kilometres radius. Usually the transmitters were active when the radios were turned off, allowing the Fire Force to conduct follow-up operations in the knowledge that the guerrillas would be asleep at the time.
In another diabolical scheme called “road runners‟, a charge of plastic explosive was fitted into each radio so that when the ‘on/off’ switch was activated a prescribed number of times, the charge would detonate and explode.
Under the influence of Colonial propaganda, radio programmes on the African stations were heavily biased against the Liberation Movement and Forces. As a result, around the mid-1970s,at the peak of the protracted guerrilla war, the two main fighting movements, ZIPRA and ZANLA, established clandestine radio stations in Angola, Maputo in Mozambique, in Lusaka Zambia and Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania.
Communicating via short and medium-wave bands, these exiled radio stations were also popular with the indigenous population. “The Voice of Zimbabwe” services became a motivational instrument for the Liberation Struggle. I recall the inspirational voice of Charles Ndlovu saying: “Aluta Continua, Victory is certain!”
This emphasis continued until Independence in 1980, when the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) was established from the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation (RBC). An immediate priority for the newly elected independent government was to re-organise the policies and administration of the mass media. Mr. Tirivafi Kangai was appointed as the new Deputy Director General at the end of 1980, when he replaced Jimmy Neill, who continued to assist in the expansions at ZBC. He perceived radio as an important tool for education.
Under his stewardship the Government embarked on an exercise of infrastructural improvements for Harare, Bulawayo and Gweru and acquiring new equipment for the radio stations. A large-scale long and short-term training exercise and prioritising indigenous advancement in the sector (including TV), was also undertaken.
Among the first “group” of indigenous radio journalists to join the new ZBC were Simon Makaza, Timothy Makoni, Nyika Bara, Masimba Musariri and Lorraine Garwe, who joined the Corporation in 1981, to become one the first Zimbabwean woman to head a ZBC Radio station. She later joined ZTV as a current affairs producer-presenter.
Other radio luminaries at the time were Ishmael Kadungure, Ben Musoni, Steve Kavhai, Connie Makaya and Basil Chidyamatamba, who revived traditional African music through his radio and TV programmes “Sounds of Zimbabwe” and “Nziyo dzeChinyakare” in 1982. He was also responsible for organising the first “Neshamwari” music festival, under the auspices of Delta Beverages, which was first held in 1966, and continues today.
In the late 1980s to early 1990s, the late Alexander Kanengoni was head of television services; he was influential in the development of indigenous content and staff for television.
In the words of Mavis Moyo: “I realized radio was a powerful tool of communication. As a teacher, I was imparting knowledge to about forty to four hundred people in the class, but with radio I could teach the whole country.”
Michelina Andreucci is a Zimbabwean-Italian researcher. She is a published author in her field. For comments E-mail: linamanucci@gmail.com
About Author
