Huisgenoot

*Huisgenoot*
Editor	Yvonne Beyers
Categories	Celebrity; human interest ; news;
Frequency	Weekly
First issue	May 1916
Company	Media24 (Naspers)
Country	South Africa
Language	Afrikaans
Website	huisgenoot.com

Last updated May 05, 2024

Huisgenoot (Afrikaans for Housemate) is a weekly South African Afrikaans-language general-interest family magazine. It has the highest circulation figures of any South African magazine and is followed by sister magazine YOU , its English-language version. A third magazine, Drum , is directed at the black market. The magazines have a combined circulation of about 550 000 copies a week.^[1] Yvonne Beyers is the current editor of Huisgenoot.^[2]

It is estimated that more than two million people read Huisgenoot weekly.^[3] The magazine also has many brand extensions and a popular concert, Skouspel, was held at Sun City every year until 2014. Some of the best Afrikaans artists are heard and the most popular singers, actors and TV shows of the year are honoured with an award called Tempo.^[4] A yearly Skouspel concert is also held in Cape Town.^[5]Huisgenoot launched a few successful line extensions in 2010, including recipe and blockbuster titles.

In July 2012, the magazine also launched its first reality television show, in conjunction with the Afrikaans television channel kykNET. The show, titled Saktyd (Deadline),^[6] gave viewers insight into what it takes to produce South Africa's biggest magazine on a weekly basis, while challenging 13 new journalists to win the job of a lifetime at the magazine.

The magazine is published by Media24, a subsidiary company of Naspers publishing group. Content includes a mix of real-life drama, glamour, fashion and consumer affairs articles as well as recipes, crossword puzzles, home projects and sport. It has a children's and a teen section and at least one short story a week or a serial...

History

The magazine was founded as the monthly De Huisgenoot, written in Dutch, in 1916. The first magazine cost 6d (six pennies or five cents) and consisted of 26 pages. President Paul Kruger was on the cover and the main article was a life sketch on the president. The first advertisement for that issue was by Stuttafords.

There were two reasons behind its founding:

to financially support the newspaper De Burger (The Citizen), which was the political mouthpiece of the Cape National Party; and
provide the Afrikaner population with inspiration, information and entertainment in Afrikaans (or, originally, Dutch).

While the cause of Afrikaner nationalism dominated the content of the magazine for decades, the editors of the magazine gradually had to make concessions to popular taste. Covers featuring Afrikaner heroes and politicians were replaced by ones featuring female film stars in the 1950s and 1960s. The Dutch-sounding title De Huisgenoot was changed to the more Afrikaans-sounding Die Huisgenoot and in 1977 the name was further simplified to simply Huisgenoot.

By the late 1970s the culture and mores of the Afrikaner population had begun to diverge from earlier generations, leading to a drastic decline in the magazine's readership and finances. By 1978 the magazine was in serious trouble and a new editor, Niel Hammann, was appointed. He took Huisgenoot in a more populist and profit-driven direction and the popularity and sales of the magazine subsequently surged – from 140,000 to 500,000 magazines per week.

The popularity of Huisgenoot has continued almost unabated since then, making the magazine and its English sister publication YOU the two most successful magazines in South Africa.

Milestones

This entire section sourced from^[7]

In the first issues, page numbers overflowed from one issue to the next and only started with one again in May 1917.
The words of a proposed new Afrikaans national anthem appeared in the issue of March 1919 – the magazine mentioned that it was not clear who wrote the song, "Uit die Blou van Onse Hemel", and requested the author to contact the magazine. Today it is known that the author was Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven.
The first female on the cover was H.S.J Joubert, who died on 8 September 1916.
The women's pages in the magazine were also heavily criticised. Readers described women being dressed in modern outfits as looking like devils – "nes duiwels gelijk". The editor had an easy solution: “Neither of us has seen a devil before, and we request that readers who has had this experience before please give us their input.”
In April 1918 the magazine announces that Afrikaans is now one of the country’s official languages.
The first poster is published in February 1922, a black and white copy of an oil painting by Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef.
Huisgenoot became a weekly magazine in November 1923, until then it was a monthly.
On 11 December 1923 the magazine boasted a print run of 30 000. Today Huisgenoot sells more than 200 000 copies weekly.
Colour was used for the first time in the issue of 2 January 1931 – black, blue and red.
In the magazine of 2 September 1927 the editor wrote that it is not a political magazine.
In the issue of 29 May 1936, television was mentioned for the first time. This was still 40 years before the SABC launched television in South Africa.
In the late thirties T.O. Honiball started producing illustrations on a regular basis for the magazine.
In July 1948, a new competition was announced – readers were invited to write in to tell how they felt about marrying English-speaking South Africans.
Adoons, the popular comic about baboons by T.O. Honiball, appeared for the first time in the issue of 2 July 1948.
Four full-colour pages appeared for the first time in the issue of 27 November 1953.
Social issues about ladies entertaining men in their rooms on a regular basis were included in the issue of 14 May 1954. A series of articles about failing marriages followed this article.
In 1957, a competition was launched to find South Africa's youngest grandmother. The winner was Mrs G.P. Kruger of Prieska. She became a grandmother at the age of 31 years and 7 months.
A Calorie chart appeared for the first time on 17 January 1958 with an eating plan a week later. The heading of the first article was: “Vir Poppiedik en Potjierol – ‘n kaloriekaart na die oordaad van die vakansiedae”.
In the issue of 18 September 1959 a competition was launched where a Borgward motor car worth £919 was the first prize and the second prize was a radio worth £90.
In 1966 an article on Betsie Verwoerd, wife of the then Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, who did a master's degree on the history of Huisgenoot, appeared. It was hand-written and consisted of 53 000 words.
The major competition in the sixties was the word building competition, the first prize was a car, second prize, an organ and third prize, a fridge.
The first Miss Teen competition was launched in the issue of 5 May 1972. Heart transplant pioneer, Christiaan Barnard, crowned the winner. The competition became a regular feature in Huisgenoot.
In the issue of 27 August 1987 an English sister-title, named YOU, was announced.

Digital platforms

Huisgenoot has increased its use of digital platforms including an iPad edition, e-magazine on Magzter, a website, mobi site, iPhone application, Facebook page (with more than 275 000 fans^[8]^[9]), Twitter page, YouTube channel and Mxit.

Interactive content

In 2010, Huisgenoot and sister-magazines YOU and DRUM, started using new technology developments. An interactive tool, utilising Microsoft Tag technology, enables readers to watch videos or download wallpaper simply by scanning a picture of a barcode-like tag printed in the magazine. There are various tags at the bottom of pages throughout the magazine.^[10]

Related Research Articles

Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, also known as H. F. Verwoerd, was a South African politician, scholar, and newspaper editor who was Prime Minister of South Africa and is commonly regarded as the architect of apartheid and nicknamed the "father of apartheid". Verwoerd played a significant role in socially engineering apartheid, the country's system of institutionalized racial segregation and white supremacy, and implementing its policies, as Minister of Native Affairs (1950–1958) and then as prime minister (1958–1966). Furthermore, Verwoerd played a vital role in helping the far-right National Party come to power in 1948, serving as their political strategist and propagandist, becoming party leader upon his premiership. He was the Union of South Africa's last prime minister, from 1958 to 1961, when he proclaimed the founding of the Republic of South Africa, remaining its prime minister until his assassination in 1966.

Steve Hofmeyr is a South African singer, songwriter, writer, actor and former TV presenter.

The following lists events that happened during 1965 in South Africa.

A referendum on becoming a republic was held in South Africa on 5 October 1960. The Afrikaner-dominated right-wing National Party, which had come to power in 1948, was avowedly republican and regarded the position of Queen Elizabeth II as the South African monarch as a relic of British imperialism. The National Party government subsequently organised the referendum on whether the then Union of South Africa should become a republic. The vote, which was restricted to whites—the first such national election in the union—was narrowly approved by 52.29% of the voters. The Republic of South Africa was constituted on 31 May 1961.

Die Burger is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with Beeld and Volksblad, it is one of three broadsheet dailies in the Media24 stable.

Laurika Rauch, is a South African singer who performs in both Afrikaans and English. She had a hit single in 1979 with Kinders van die Wind, written by Koos du Plessis. The song featured prominently in the Afrikaans television series "Phoenix & Kie" in the late seventies.

Afrikaner nationalism is a nationalistic political ideology created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afrikaner history such as the Great Trek, the First and Second Boer Wars and the resulting anti-British sentiment that developed among Afrikaners and opposition to South Africa's entry into World War I.

YOU is a South African family magazine that is aimed at demographically diverse South African English-speaking readers of different ethnicities with coverage on current events and "interesting people".

Dewald Louw is the winner of the first season of The Afrikaans KykNET Idols in South Africa.

The Volksblad is an Afrikaans-language daily newspaper published in Bloemfontein, South Africa, and distributed in the Free State and Northern Cape provinces, where it is the largest Afrikaans daily. It is South Africa's oldest Afrikaans The paper is owned by Media24.

Saktyd is a South African reality television show, which aired on the Afrikaans television channel kykNET on DStv between 17 July 2012 and 9 October 2012. In Afrikaans, the word ʽsaktydʼ refers to the time that a magazine or newspaper is sent to a printer to be printed.

Amor Vittone is a South African singer.

The Media24 Books Literary Awards are a group of five South African literary prizes awarded annually by Media24, the print-media arm of the South African media company Naspers. They are open to authors whose books are published within the Media24 Books stable, which includes NB Publishers, Jonathan Ball Publishers, LuxVerbi-BM, NVA, and Van Schaik Publishers. Each award is worth R35 000. The awards comprise:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naspers</span> Multinational holding and investment company

Naspers Limited is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town, with interests in online retail, publishing and venture capital investment. Naspers' principal shareholder is its Dutch listed investment subsidiary Prosus, which owns approximately 49% of its parent as part of a cross ownership structure.

Arno Jordaan born in Port Elizabeth is a South African pop singer singing in Afrikaans.

Henry Allan Fagan, QC was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1957 to 1959 and previously a Member of Parliament and the Minister of Native Affairs in J. B. M. Hertzog's government. Fagan had been an early supporter of the Afrikaans language movement and a noted Afrikaans playwright and novelist. Though he was a significant figure in the rise of Afrikaner nationalism and a long-term member of the Broederbond, he later became an important opponent of Hendrik Verwoerd's National Party and is best known for the report of the Fagan Commission, whose relatively liberal approach to racial integration amounted to the Smuts government's last, doomed stand against the policy of apartheid.

Dirk Daniël Hammann, known as Niel Hammann, is a retired South African senior journalist. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Afrikaans weekly family magazine Huisgenoot, as well as its sister publication, You, which was published in English.

Annelisa Dora Deborah Weiland is a South African actress and writer. She is known for her roles in the films Meerkat Maantuig, Die Sonvreter, Wild Maneuvres as well as her long-running role on the SABC2 soap opera 7de Laan.

Blyde Smit is a South African actress and production designer. She is best known for her roles in the series Dead Places, The Construct and 7de Laan.

Gretchen Ramsden is a South African actress. She is best known for her roles in Arendsvlei and Afgrond.

References

↑ The biggest circulating consumer magazines in SA, marklives.com (accessed 2014/05/20)
↑ Henriëtte Loubser at Who's Who in Southern Africa Archived 1 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 2014/05/20)
↑ Weideman, E. Huisgenoot: 90 Jaar Gedenkuitgawe. Media24, 2006, p. 12-15.
↑ Tempos on Channel24 (accessed 2014/05/20)
↑ Huisgenoot-Skouspel terug op die Kaapse kalender, News24 Archived 21 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 2014/05/20)
↑ KykNET's new reality show Saktyd, Maroela Media (accessed 2014/05/20)
↑ Weideman, E. Huisgenoot: 90 Jaar Gedenkuitgawe. Media24, 2006, p. 12-15.
↑ Huisgenoot se Facebook-gemeenskap nou 200 000 sterk, News24 Archived 21 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 2014/05/20)
↑ Huisgenoot on Facebook (accessed 2014/05/20)
↑ Hofmeister, R. Huisgenoot. Media24, 6 Januarie 2011, p. 5.

External links

Official website

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] The biggest circulating consumer magazines in SA, marklives.com (accessed 2014/05/20)

[2] Henriëtte Loubser at Who's Who in Southern Africa Archived 1 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 2014/05/20)

[3] Weideman, E. Huisgenoot: 90 Jaar Gedenkuitgawe. Media24, 2006, p. 12-15.

[4] Tempos on Channel24 (accessed 2014/05/20)

[5] Huisgenoot-Skouspel terug op die Kaapse kalender, News24 Archived 21 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 2014/05/20)

[6] KykNET's new reality show Saktyd, Maroela Media (accessed 2014/05/20)

[7] Weideman, E. Huisgenoot: 90 Jaar Gedenkuitgawe. Media24, 2006, p. 12-15.

[8] Huisgenoot se Facebook-gemeenskap nou 200 000 sterk, News24 Archived 21 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 2014/05/20)

[9] Huisgenoot on Facebook (accessed 2014/05/20)

[10] Hofmeister, R. Huisgenoot. Media24, 6 Januarie 2011, p. 5.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]