She followed the tour and took the photographs on these pages. Ironically, the radios are not for general sale in South Africa because of the duties it attracts, despite its potential development role and an endorsement from President Nelson Mandela. Import surcharges must be paid on components used in the manufacture of the Freeplay radios and all radios are classified in South Africa as a luxury items, incurring an extra duty on resale. A special provision to free the radio from duties is currently being discussed by the South African government, but this has been on the agenda for some time now. The model we bought from the first production was is grey in colour and we purchased a second model in November 1996.
Most radios are black, although other colours are being planned.
The radio is electrically identical, but there are changes to the mechanical parts. To get the radio to operate you first have to wind the spring. A handle unclips on the side of the set. The publicity says you can wind the radio in less than 20 seconds. That's about right, we had to turn the handle 60 times.