By Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele

The Wits Justice Project (WJP), an initiative of the University of the Witwatersrand, has launched a community radio talk show. The 60-minute talk show – The Wits Justice Show – aims to educate people on their rights when facing South Africa’s judicial system.

The show was initiated by a member of the WJP, Paul McNally. Mr McNally told De Rebus that the WJP saw a ‘huge gap in radio content’. He said that legal information was mostly available in English in the print medium. ‘Radio reaches a high number of listeners and it is an easily accessible medium – that is why the show was born’, he said.

The show is broadcast from a community radio station, Thetha FM, based in Orange Farm in the south of Johannesburg at 1.30 pm every Tuesday.

Mr McNally said that the show is broadcast in English, Sotho and Zulu and covers topics such as bail, restorative justice and what to expect if one is arrested. He added that they have recently partnered with Legal Aid South Africa and that attorneys from Legal Aid South Africa would become guests on the show.

Mr McNally said that the show was already growing, from August it will also be airing from Alex FM in order to reach a larger audience, he said.

Thetha FM is found on 100,6 FM and is available in Gauteng and parts of the Free State, while Alex FM is available on 89,1 FM and covers the Alexandra community, Sandton, as well as parts of greater Johannesburg and Pretoria. The show is also available on Soundcloud at www.soundcloud.com/witsjusticeproject.

Nomfundo Manyathi-Jele, nomfundo@derebus.org.za

This article was first published in De Rebus in 2013 (Aug) DR 7.