On the right frequency — from Parkside to Paarl

Eight years ago, KuGompo City-born Lynden Jafta took a new radio station to the airwaves and now Paarl FM has tens of thousands of listeners and is the voice of the community. Jafta, 50, who worked in the retail management space in KuGompo before moving to the Cape, listened to static or “white noise” on his car radio for three years before his dream of filling a vacant frequency with his own vibey radio channel came true. His passion for radio was ignited while working as a marketing and sales manager for a community radio station.

“I experienced the power of radio first-hand,” Jafta who, as a child, dreamt of being a policeman or a lawyer, said. “After leaving that radio station to pursue other marketing opportunities, the network I established asked me to research the possibility of opening another radio station within the area.” Intrigued by the notion of his own radio start-up, Jafta spent three years extensively researching the idea. “I was told of a vacant frequency by my mentor, which I then programmed as number one in my car.

“For three years I listened to that white noise — the static or hissing sound an untuned radio makes — in my car. “While listening to it, I imagined how Paarl FM would sound.” Driving around with his car reverberating with scratchy static, Jafta envisioned how he could bring it to life with music and conversation. “This helped me plan my radio station’s programming, music style, imaging and identity.” At the heart of his vision for Paarl FM was a desire to fill what he saw as a gap in the broadcasting landscape.