media update’s Aisling McCarthy visited POWER House in Houghton on 8 August, and chatted to POWER 98.7’s MD, Andile Khumalo, about the campaign.

POWER 98.7 set aside 7 to 9 August to have female-only presenters on the station. The ‘#987Woman’ campaign served to demonstrate the intellect and versatility of the women on their airwaves.

The venue was teeming with activity, with radio guests and presenters being ushered in and out of studio. Amidst all the activity, media update chatted to Khumalo about the campaign and how it has been received.

Tell us a bit about the idea behind the ‘#987Woman’ campaign?

As a radio station that prides itself on its ability to innovate and really disrupt, we've thought long and hard about how we ought to be commemorating Women's Month.

We wanted to celebrate it in a truly South African style and in a way that is authentic to who we are, in line with the aspirations of all the women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956. We felt that one of the key things those women were after was having a voice and having an equitable share of voice on all kinds of issues, from politics to arts.

We thought long and hard about how to do it, and we thought there's no better way to give them a voice than to give them the airwaves. That's the one thing that gives us all power, and gives us all access to public opinion. Nothing's bigger than the voice of radio – the very thing that we do every day. Hence the idea of benching all the men and indeed making it a Women's Month.

How did you select the women who would present the shows during this time?

Well, they select themselves in a way because these women are leaders in their own right. These women are movers and shakers in their various spheres, whether it is business, politics, media, or anything else. They are people who are influencing the status quo. They drive a lot of what we all talk about, they are influencers in every way you can think of it.

If you look at the women we've had on this week, we can talk a lot about all of them. So it's really about the people who are influential and who impact society one way or another.

What kind of response have you had from the listeners?

It's been absolutely amazing. Our listeners look forward to this every single year, as you can imagine. So they always wonder who's coming up, who's going to be on the show.
We also have a huge audience participation where listeners not only recommend who should be on the lineup, but they also get to vote for two presenters that come from the listener base.

There's a lot of men and women alike, who phone quite often, who comment on different shows, as a result, endear themselves to listeners. So other listeners would know them because they are regular callers, and that led to a lot of them being nominated to come on.

But the audience has been brilliant - the way they have interacted with the campaign, both on air and on digital as well. It's been nothing short of amazing.

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In keeping with the theme of female empowerment, Joe Public’s deputy MD says that having women in positions of power is critical. Read more in our article, Meet Joe Public’s new deputy MD: Khuthala Gala-Holten