VOW FM 88.1 station manager Martin Vilakazi
The Wits Centre for Journalism (WCJ) has assumed management of the VOW 88.1 community radio station from the Faculty of Humanities at Wits University.
The move comes as part of the “VOW Reimagined” project which began in 2023 to realign the station with Wits University’s brand, including strengthening its commitment to academic excellence for students within the media studies space.
The management realignment also comes with a substantial investment from Wits University, which will allow the WCJ to build new state-of-the-art, public-facing studios on the main campus.
Now an award-winning 24-hour community radio station and the country’s best student radio station, VOW made its debut in the 80s at The Matrix student centre on Wits east campus. With support from the WCJ (then Wits Journalism), the station moved to its long-standing headquarters at University Corner in 2000, transmitting its own signal from the roof of the building in Braamfontein.
The station relaunched in 2010 during the buzz of the FIFA World Cup through funding assistance from the Open Society Foundation, The Media Development and Diversity Agency and the Kagiso Media Trust, continuing to provide innovative, educational, and community-specific content to students and younger listeners across the Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni metros.
Coming full circle 25 years later, the station will return to The Matrix student centre with state-of-the-art facilities designed around modern radio best practices under the direction of the Wits Centre for Journalism.
“The inclusion of the radio station in the WCJ stable signals the Centre’s commitment to growing its radio practice training and research projects,” says WCJ Director Dr Dinesh Balliah. “We are incredibly grateful to the university and the vice-chancellor, in particular, for recognising the critical importance of media generally and community media specifically. The new studios will take the station closer to the Wits student community and allow for more community involvement in radio production.”
“This is an exciting step forward for VOW,” says station manager Martin Vilakazi. “Part of our strategy is to make VOW more accessible for student and academic communities, as well as other interested communities around Johannesburg. This centralised location helps us do that.
“The move also means that VOW will be able to increase its signal output and improve its commercial value to ensure the station is self-sustainable.”
Construction of VOW’s new headquarters will begin in the new year and is scheduled for completion by the third quarter of 2026.