Abstract
This article reports on a study conducted on a ‘beneficiary’ community’s participation in
HIV/AIDS communication through a community radio station. The aim was to
understand the community’s presence and access to dialogue on HIV/AIDS, as
practiced by their community radio station. The research underpinning the article
focused on a community radio station based in Platfontein, Kimberley, in South Africa.
X-K FM is a community radio station and its primary target audience is !Xun and Khwe
people. The station is the only formal communication channel that targets these
communities in their respective mother tongues. The researchers attempted to
understand civil voices’ participation in and access to the strategies of HIV/AIDS
prevention, care, support and treatment. The article is underpinned by Jürgen
Habermas’s theory of structural transformation of the public sphere. Research data was
gathered using semi-structured interviews. The article concludes that the radio station
has provided some avenues to facilitate the process of ‘beneficiary’ community
participation in HIV/AIDS communication.