Africa has over 120 licenced community radio stations, yet there is little support for community media from the statutory Media Development and Diversity Agency. Some community broadcasters are paying up to 200,000 South African Rand (ZAR) (14,372 United States Dollar (USD)) a month to Sentech for signal distribution. The low financial support from government has led to many community broadcasters becoming dependent on airtime sales and therefore adopting a commercial model. The push towards commercialisation in the community radio sector endangers its community mandate and not-for-profit status. A plurality of media does not necessarily result in diversity. South African media lacks diversity regarding offering content that addresses the gender, class, race and ethnic complexities of the country. Voices of women, rural citizens, the disabled, sexual minorities, ethnic and religious groups are marginalised in the media. There is also little diversity of styles, genres and formats. Mobile telephony fills in the access to telecommunications gap as penetration reached 150% in 2014. A study by Google, known as the Connected Consumer Survey (2017), found that 60% of South Africans (approximately 16 million people) now use a smartphone. Despite the pervasive use of mobile phones in the country, there are still issues of digital inequality. Studies have shown that the price of data in South Africa is the most expensive of all leading African economies. According to the report by World Wide Worx (Internet Access in South Africa 2017 Study) there are 29 million smartphone users but only 22 million internet users. This means that a quarter of the smartphone user-base either cannot afford data, or cannot access it. Despite access to digital platforms in the country, the policies governing the digital landscape remain fragmented. In 2014, former President Jacob Zuma split the communications department into two entities: the Department of Communications; and the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services, thus undercutting convergence efforts. Government’s ineffective implementation of the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) digital policy has also resulted in a delay in the switch-over to Digital Terrestrial Television. Radio, especially stations in the stable of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), remains one of the most accessed forms of media in the country. According to the 2018 Radio Audience Measurement research by the Broadcasting Research Council of South Africa, in a typical week radio broadcasts reached approximately 90% of the population in rural and urban centres, aged 15 years and older. SABC radio stations also offer a considerable amount of choice when it comes to content, with a wide range of topics covered in the country’s official languages. However, developments at the SABC are threatening the sustainability of the public broadcaster. In August 2018, the SABC admitted to being bankrupt and on the verge of collapse; the board told parliament that they might not be able to continue to deliver on their public service mandate due to these financial difficulties. Despite this challenge, there are positive developments. After an 6 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SOUTH AFRICA 2018