By Carlito Sheik, broadcast journalist and radio practitioner with over 20 years at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)
There is something sacred about radio. For more than two decades in the studios of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, I have witnessed the quiet magic of a microphone switched on at dawn, the steady rhythm of a newsroom preparing bulletins, and the invisible thread that connects a broadcaster to a listener miles away. Every year on 13 February, the world pauses to celebrate that magic. In 2011 UNESCO proclaimed this day World Radio Day, and it was later adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012, a recognition that radio remains one of the most trusted and accessible media on earth.
The 2026 theme, “AI Is a Tool, Not a Voice,” speaks directly to the moment we find ourselves in, a time of extraordinary technological acceleration and equally profound human responsibility. And nowhere is that balance more visible than at MUT Radio in Umlazi Township, where young voices carry a community. At MUT Radio, the station’s heartbeat is unmistakably human. It is the sound of students rushing between lectures and studio shifts. It is the laughter in production booths. It is the nervous excitement of a first live bulletin. It is learning by doing — in real time, on air.
But student radio, by its very nature, lives within a delicate balance. Academic timetables, and shifts. Assignments demand attention. Exams arrive. And yet, the red in the studio light must still go on. Rather than allowing silence to creep in during unavoidable gaps, MUT Radio introduced AI-assisted news readers: Leah from Wentworth and Thando from Umlazi as continuity tools. Let us be clear: they are not replacements. They are bridges. AI ensures that hourly news updates continue during lectures. It supports consistency during peak campus activity. It reduces operational pressure on young broadcasters who must first succeed as students. But the editorial decisions? The story angles? The interviews? The verification? The humanity? Those remain firmly in human hands. Technology alone does not build trust. Broadcasters do. At MUT Radio, the broadcasters are students.