SIU investigates R34m grants to Jozi FM’s Soweto Media Resources Centre
Over 10 years after the payment, the intended project remains unrealised, with no building constructed and no land acquired.
South Africa.- The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has launched a probe into R34m(£1.4m) worth of National Lotteries Commission grants awarded to the Soweto Media Resources Centre, which operates Jozi FM.
According to the SIU, the funds, dispursed between 2013 and 2015, were earmarked for the construction of a Soweto multimedia centre in Soweto’s Jabulani Precinct, including a documentary and coffee table book on the area’s history. However, over 10 years after the payment, the project remains unrealised, with no building constructed and no land acquired.
The investigation follows complaints filed by Jozi FM’s CEO, Mpho Mhlongo, with Orlando Soweto police and the SIU in October 2025. Mhlongo, who has led Jozi FM for years, described learning of unauthorised withdrawals from a dedicated account he co-signed.
He said in an interview: “We were told the money was for our resource centre, but years passed with meetings, plans shown on a laptop and no progress. When I asked questions three years ago, I faced suspension and threats to my job. We had no choice but to go public.”
However, Board Chairman Rapitse Montsho, an ANC veteran appointed to the role in 2014, insists that the funds were properly used. He claimed that the Soweto Media Resources Centre served as a conduit for an organisation called Legacy, which produced a documentary series entitled “Freedom Was Not Free”, featuring interviews with veterans of the liberation struggle.
Montsho said: “All funding was accounted for, including travel, digitisation and equipment. We will hand over every report and receipt to the SIU.” He added that the total received was less than the full R34.8 million (£1.75m) reported by the NLC. Searches have, however, yielded no results for public videos or archives from the project.
NLC records, now with the SIU, show the grants were disbursed in three tranches: R12m (£600,000) in August 2013, another R12m in April 2014 and R10.8m (£540,000) in October 2015. However, the station has records only for the first payment, which left it with a tax debt. Despite the controversy over the grants, Jozi FM continues to operate and broadcast to Soweto’s diverse communities, relying on sponsorships and airtime sales to stay afloat.
DA MP Toby Chance, whose constituency includes Soweto North, welcomed the probe. He said in a statement: “The people here rely on Jozi FM for their stories, unfiltered. If wrongdoing is found, charges must follow without delay.”
NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz confirmed to Chance that all grant documents had been transferred to investigators.
