Activists behind the online petition ‘Save Lotus FM,’ say they have received overwhelming support and more than 5,000 signatures in one week. The petition was launched by the South African Hindu Maha Sabha and other religious and cultural groups in Durban with the intention of achieving a public mandate to challenge the SABC’s policy of introducing 90% local content (music) and 10% foreign. Interested parties can go to the South African Hindu Maha Sabha website to sign the petition, which has the pay-off line, Not everything is black and white and emphasises both the South African and Indian identity of its listeners. Between May and October 2016 Lotus FM saw its average listener numbers falling by about 130,000, from 390,000 to 260,000 — a third of its listeners. The radio station also saw a huge decline in revenue. This was blamed mainly on the station playing local music that does not resonate with their listeners.
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