By Khanyisile Rasmeni
Siyamthanda Johns, 32, from George in the Western Cape, leads a thriving broadcast media company dedicated to delivering captivating and informative content that educates and entertains audiences.
Johns owns Muzi Capital Media (Muzi FM), a business he started in 2019 as a skills development institution. Initially, it offered skills development and training on radio production for unemployed youth.
It has since expanded its services to include advertising, graphic design as part of its package in advertising, outdoor broadcasting, live streaming and events management.
Johns holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Media Operations Management degree from Boston Media House in Sandton.
“While training unemployed youth on radio production, my team and I discovered that the same people we had trained kept coming back to the institution. We saw a gap in the market and decided to start a radio station so we could incubate those who have completed training,” he said.
In the same year, criminals vandalised the business’ facilities.
“We lost equipment worth approximately R100,000. We didn’t give up, but rebuilt the business.”
In 2020, Muzi FM closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Johns relocated to Johannesburg to start an internet radio station called Fame Life Radio.
“In 2022, I decided to come back to George. I restructured and remodelled the business to relaunch it,” Johns said.
A year later, he received R50,000 funding from the National Youth Development Agency. He is in the process of applying for an additional R200,000, which he intends to spend buying more equipment and expanding the studio.
In 2023, the company received R40,000 from the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda)
He also received an inverter for his offices to cope with load-shedding.
“I also won a pitching competition in 2024 from Seda and I am expecting R100,000 of cash prize together with R60,000 of technology transfer assistance,” Johns said.
Last year, the business received R60,000 for camera equipment from the Hollywood Foundation.
*This story first appeared in the Government Communication Information Services magazine – Vuk’uzenzele.
