Language Revitalisation and Community Broadcasting in South Africa: A Case of Vaaltar FM

This chapter deals with indigenous radio broadcasting by considering a Setswana language community radio station as a case study. The aim is to examine the role these stations have played in South Africa over the decades and their contribution to revitalising indigenous languages. The study draws influence from indigenous radio stations as a catalyst for protecting and preserving languages from total extinction. The station considered is Vaaltar FM. Using the theories of language revitalisation and translanguaging, the chapter will discuss strategies endorsed by indigenous radio stations in South Africa to revitalise indigenous languages. While some radio stations, especially public service broadcasting radio stations, revitalise standard indigenous languages, some community and commercial radio stations, such as Vaaltar FM, do the same by employing complex situated, processual and interactional communicative practices such as translanguaging. These differing approaches expose the long-standing tension faced by radio stations aimed at indigenous-speaking South Africans regarding whether they remain traditional in their approach or adapt with the times and incorporate modernised elements that, to some, are a dilution of their cultural heritage.