The Sunday Times is South Africa's biggest Sunday newspaper. Established in 1906, the Sunday Times is distributed all over South Africa and in neighbouring countries such as Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland.
The Sunday Times was first published on 4 February 1906 as a weekly, sister publication of the Rand Daily Mail which at the time was "standing alone" against its rival Transvaal Leader.
The Rand Daily Mail was a South African newspaper published from 1902 until it was controversially closed in 1985 after adopting an outspoken anti-apartheid stance in the midst of a massive clampdown on activists by the security forces. The title was based in Johannesburg as a daily newspaper and best known for breaking the news about the apartheid state's Muldergate Scandal in 1979. It also exposed the truth about the death in custody of anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko, in 1977.
Founding editor George Herbert Kingswell introduced the slogan "A paper for the People". It was later changed to "The Paper for the People", a slogan that is still in use today. For the first edition of the paper, published on 4 February 1906, 11,600 copies were printed and soon sold out, forcing the paper to print an additional 5000 copies. By November 1909 the paper sales had risen to 35 000.
In 1992, the former columnist Jani Allan sued the British broadcaster Channel 4 for libel over affair allegations involving her and Eugene Terre'Blanche.[1] Allan had interviewed the AWB leader for the Sunday Times.[2] Allan had already settled out of court with the London Evening Standard and Options magazine over similar allegations.[3] The then-news editor of the newspaper, the late Marlene Burger[4] and newspaper astrologer Linda Shaw[5] testified against Allan. Prior to the libel suit, Allan had published articles for the newspaper dismissing the affair allegations.[6] Allan also allowed the newspaper to publish answerphone messages left by Terre'Blanche as well as her threats of taking legal action against Terre'Blanche for nuisance contact.[7] Allan lost the case; the judge ruled that she had not been defamed but did not conclude whether or not an affair had taken place.[8] The case became notorious for violence and a dirty tricks campaign.[9][10] Publications such as the Financial Mail and Allan herself speculated that the defence witnesses were paid by the De Klerk regime in an attempt to destabilise the far-right in South Africa.[11] Shaw recounted her editor, Ken Owen's reaction to the case: "When I came back from London. Owen stood in the middle of the newsroom and said: 'You have single-handedly destroyed the reputation of every journalist in the country and we have become the laughing stock."[12]
Jani Allan is a South African journalist, columnist, writer and broadcaster. She is one of the country's best-known and most widely-read columnists.
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a UK-wide TV channel for the first time.
Financial Mail, is a South African business publication focused on reaching the country's top business people. This weekly publication, which was launched in 1959, underwent a major "look and feel" change in 2006, which saw it reclaim its position as the most widely read English business weekly in the country. The FM also publishes a series of popular corporate profiles as well as annual publications such as The Little Black Book, AdFocus and The Property Handbook.
On 13 November 2005, The Sunday Times broke the story that the African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma was being investigated on rape charges. It was reported that Zuma considered legal action against the publication, although it later emerged that an investigation was in fact under way. On 6 December 2005, official rape charges were filed against Zuma. He would later be acquitted of rape.
The African National Congress (ANC) is the Republic of South Africa's governing political party. It has been the ruling party of post-apartheid South Africa on the national level, beginning with the election of Nelson Mandela in the 1994 election. Today, the ANC remains the dominant political party in South Africa, winning every election since 1994. Cyril Ramaphosa, the incumbent President of South Africa, has served as leader of the ANC since 18 December 2017.
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth President of South Africa from the 2009 general election until his resignation on 14 February 2018. Zuma is also referred to by his initials JZ and his clan name Msholozi.
On 5 November 2007, it was reported that a consortium containing some senior government figures had launched a bid to purchase 100% of Avusa (previously Johncom), the company that owned The Sunday Times.[13]
In March 2007, Zuma sued the paper for 6 million Rand over two columns by popular columnist David Bullard. The two columns, "Stupidity a mitigating circumstance for Zuma", published on 16 April 2006, and "Visit the Zuma website to see what was meant" (7 May 2006) were cited by Zuma as defamatory and an "impairment of his dignity".[14] Although David Bullard was found to be operating within the ethical bounds of The Sunday Times regarding the two columns, he would later fall out of favour with Editor Mondli Makhanya.
David Bullard is a British-born and South African naturalized columnist, author and celebrity public speaker known for his controversial satire.
On 10 April 2008, Bullard was fired from The Sunday Times after the publication of a column on 6 April 2008 (Uncolonised Africa wouldn’t know what it was missing) received stern protest from several political parties. The editor apologised for the column, saying "by publishing him (Bullard) we were complicit in disseminating his Stone Age philosophies".[15]
In September 2008, The Sunday Times was again vigorously attacked for publishing a highly controversial piece, this time in the form of a cartoon by critically acclaimed cartoonist Jonathon Shapiro (Zapiro). The cartoon depicted Jacob Zuma getting ready to rape the Justice System while being assisted by the leaders of various ANC and political factions and parties. Zapiro denied any ambiguity between Jacob Zuma's depiction as a rapist in the cartoon and his earlier rape trial.[citation needed]The Sunday Times and its editor were slated by various ANC officials. A joint press release by the ANC, the South African Communist Party and the ANC Youth League lambasted The Sunday Times editor, describing him as a dictator, and called for his replacement: "We can only hope that the newspaper will find a suitable leadership other than the ranting dictator who finds joy in manipulating the truth."[16]
In 2015 the former editor of the newspaper, Tertius Myburgh was accused of being an apartheid-era spy. The allegations were made by the veteran journalist, John Matisonn in his book, God, Spies and Lies: Finding South Africa’s Future Through its Past.[17] In the same year, Jani Allan supported the allegations made against her former editor in an opinion piece published by the Daily Maverick.[18]
Editors
1906 – 1909: Founding editor George Herbert Kingswell launched the Sunday Times and Rand Daily Mail for owner Sir Abe Bailey. Kingswell was initially offered the job at The Rand Daily Mail (The Fourth Estate, Joel Mervis), but instead looked to create a weekly paper.
1909 – 1910: Lewis Rose Macleod named editor.
1910 – 1942: Joseph Langley Levy, a drama critic and leading cultural figure in Johannesburg, was born in Liverpool, England on 25 May 1887. He was editor of the Sunday Times for 32 years, during which circulation rose from 35,000 to 150,000, penetrating every province and reaching towns and villages scattered over an area of almost half-a-million square miles. He died in Johannesburg on 11 May 1945.
1942 – 1947: E.B ‘Chook’ Dawson - remembered as the first of the paper's 'shirtsleeves editors', a journalist who hated ostentation in either people or prose. At the time of his death in 1957 he was also remembered as a hero of Delville Wood who saved a comrade's life during the epic battle in World War I.
1947 – 1958: N. A. G. Caley named editor
1959 – 1975: Joel Mervis has been credited as transforming the Sunday Times it into the most widely read and powerful weekly in South Africa during his tenure as editor.
1975 – 1990: Albert Tertius Myburgh (26 December 1936 – 2 December 1990) was a South African journalist and editor, best known as editor of the Sunday Times. Myburgh resigned as editor of the Sunday Times in September 1990 after 15 years. His next role was to be as ambassador to Washington or London. Four days later he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died at home in December of the same year.
1996 – 1998: Brian Pottinger was also the deputy chair of the South African National Editor's Forum during this time. He became the managing director of Times Newspapers Limited and in 2000 would be appointed at publisher of the Sunday Times. From 2003 to 2007 he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Division for Johnnic Communications Limited.
1998 – 2000: Mike Robertson was the editor and associate publisher for the Sunday Times during this period. He used to be the deputy editor, chief assistant editor, assistant editor and political correspondent for the newspaper. He is the publisher of the Sunday Times and managing director of Times Media Group’s media operations.
2002 – 2003: Mathatha Tsedu was the deputy editor of the Sunday Independent, the deputy editor of the Star then the Deputy Chief executive of the SABC news, before becoming editor of the Sunday Times in 2002. In 2003 he was dismissed as editor of the Sunday Times. In 2014, the SA National Editors’ Forum announced Mathatha Tsedu would serve as its executive director.
2004 – 2010: Mondli Makhanya was appointed as editor of Sunday Times. A political writer and editor, he became the Mail & Guardian editor in 2002 before joining the Sunday Times in 2004. In 2010 Makhanya was promoted to Editor in Chief of Avusa Media newspapers (including The Times and Sowetan, Sunday World).
2010 – 2013: Ray Hartley was the founding editor of daily newspaper The Times in 2007, before taking over the reins as Editor of the Sunday Times in 2010 after Makhanya left. During Hartley's tenure as editor, Sunday Times journalists won virtually all the awards on offer, including the prestigious Standard Bank Sivukile and Taco Kuiper awards for investigative journalism. He is currently editor at large for the Times Media Group and launched the Rand Daily Mail website in 2014.
2013 – 2015: Phylicia Oppelt became the first female editor of the Sunday Times. Oppelt was the editor of the Daily Dispatch from 2005 to 2008, and as editor of Business Times from 2008 to 2010. In 2010, she was appointed editor of The Times, which had entered the market in June 2007 under Hartley's editorship.
2016 to present: Bongani Siqoko is the former editor of the award-winning Daily Dispatch, Saturday Dispatch and DispatchLIVE. He has been with the Daily Dispatch since November 2004, having held many positions at the newspaper — news editor, managing editor, and deputy editor — prior to his appointment as editor in June 2013. He holds an MA in International Journalism from City University London, United Kingdom.
Bullard, David (2002). Out To Lunch. Jonathan Ball Publishers. (First edition of Out To Lunch columns originally published in the Sunday Times.)
Bullard, David (2005). Out To Lunch Again. Jonathan Ball Publishers. (Second edition of Out To Lunch columns originally published in the Sunday Times.)
Bullard, David (2007). Screw it, Let's Do Lunch!. Jonathan Ball Publishers. (Third edition of Out To Lunch columns originally published in the Sunday Times.)
Dreyer, Nadine (2006). A Century of Sundays: 100 Years of Breaking News in the Sunday Times, 1906–2006. Zebra. (Centenary special edition compilation)
Mervis, Joel (1989). The Fourth Estate, a newspaper story. Jonathan Ball Publishers.
Jonathan Shapiro is a South African cartoonist, known as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions. He is the nephew of British magician David Berglas and cousin to Marvin Berglas, director of Marvin's Magic.
Eugène Ney Terre'Blanche was an Afrikaner nationalist who was the founder and leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging. Prior to founding the AWB, Terre'Blanche served as a South African Police officer, was a farmer, and was an unsuccessful Herstigte Nasionale Party candidate for local office in the Transvaal. He was a major figure in the right-wing backlash against the collapse of apartheid. His beliefs and philosophy have continued to be influential among white supremacists in South Africa and around the world.
The Mail & Guardian is a South African weekly newspaper, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular culture.
The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife is a 1991 British feature-length documentary film set during the final days of the apartheid regime in South Africa, particularly centring on Eugène Terre'Blanche, founder and leader of the far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging. The film was directed by Nick Broomfield and released in 1991. It received an average of 2.3 million viewers during its screening on Channel 4. A year later it was the subject of legal action brought by the journalist, Jani Allan, in what has been described as "the libel case of the summer". In 2006, Broomfield released a follow-up, His Big White Self.
The Cape Times is an English-language morning newspaper owned by Independent News & Media SA and published in Cape Town, South Africa.
Sathyandranath Ragunanan "Mac" Maharaj is a South African politician affiliated with the African National Congress, academic and businessman of Indian origin. He is the former official spokesperson of the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.
Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe is a South African politician who served as interim President of South Africa between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki.
City Press is a South African news brand that publishes on multiple platforms. Its flagship print edition is distributed nationally on Sunday, and it has a daily newsletter, online platform, and other social media platforms. These include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The publication also runs a daily morning newsletter called On a Point of Order, a play on the South African Parliament scene, which frequently sees members of Parliament rising "on a point of order" to protest against something that somebody has said.
Face Value is a 1983 anthology of collected journalism by South African journalist Jani Allan. The book is compiled from selections of Allan's successful gossip and popular culture column Just Jani that appeared in the Sunday Times. She was voted "the most admired person in South Africa." in a Gallup poll commissioned by the newspaper. The book was published by Longstreet publishers in Cape Town and released in South Africa in 1983.
Nhlanhla Musa Nene served as the Minister of Finance of South Africa under President Jacob Zuma from 25 May 2014 until his controversial removal on 9 December 2015, and under President Cyril Ramaphosa from 27 February 2018 until his resignation on 9 October 2018. He also previously served as the Deputy Minister of Finance in the Cabinet of South Africa from November 2008 to May 2014, as chairperson of the Finance Portfolio Committee in the South African Parliament, and as a Member of Parliament for the African National Congress (ANC) starting in 1999. His home is in Kranskop, KwaZulu-Natal.
The Times is a South African daily newspaper now available online only. It was an offshoot of The Sunday Times, to whose subscribers it was delivered gratis; non-subscribers paid R2.50 per edition in the early years. It was owned by Tiso Blackstar Group, formerly known as Times Media Group.
The New Age newspaper was a South African national daily newspaper, owned and operated by TNA Media (Pty) Ltd. TNA Media was established in June 2010 and the first publication of The New Age was on 6 December 2010. It was re-branded as Afro Voice in April 2018. Its last edition was published on the 29th June 2018.
The Spear is a painting by Cape Town-based South African artist, Brett Murray. It depicts former South African President Jacob Zuma in a pose reminiscent of Lenin, with his genitals exposed. The painting triggered a defamation lawsuit by Zuma's party, the African National Congress (ANC), and was vandalised on 22 May 2012.
Albert Tertius Myburgh was a South African journalist and editor, best known as editor of the Sunday Times between 1975-1990.
Sekunjalo Investment Holdings is a South Africa-based private equity firm specializing in acquisitions, PIPEs, and buyouts. It has principal operations in publishing, Internet, fishing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, telecommunication, financial services, aquaculture, biotechnology, enterprise development, events management, travel. The company was founded by Iqbal Survé in 1996 with the aim of investing and assisting Black-owned businesses. In April 2015 all of Sekunjalo's investment's except it's 55% ownership in Independent Media SA was spun-off into a new company, still owned by Sekunjalo Investments, known as African Equity Empowerment Investments.
Jani Confidential is a memoir by South African columnist Jani Allan, once the most famous media figure in the country as a columnist for the country's mass-circulation Sunday Times. Allan charts her rise in South African journalism against the backdrop of excess and decadence of the country's white elites. Allan's life unravels when an interview with the late Eugene Terre'Blanche threatens to derail her glittering career. Her memoir became a critical success, lauded by publications such as the Daily Maverick, Mail & Guardian and Noseweek. Commercially Jani Confidential also performed well, becoming a Sunday Times top five best-seller. The memoir was published by Jacana Media on 16 March 2015.
The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born South African family whose most notable members are the brothers Ajay, Atul, Rajesh "Tony" Gupta as well as Atul Gupta's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The Gupta family owns a business empire spanning computer equipment, media and mining, and has been the focus of widespread scrutiny because of its close ties to Jacob Zuma during his Presidency.
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