Sowetan is still key to nation building

My first stint at Sowetan was in the early 1990s as a trainee at the Argus Cadet School at The Star building in Sauer Street, central Johannesburg, where my fellow trainees and I were deployed at the iconic newspaper for experiential training.

At the time, Sowetan was owned by Argus Newspapers, which later became Independent Newspapers when it was bought by an Irish-based media company.

As a callow reporter, it was an honour and privilege to spend some time, brief as it was, in Sowetan newsroom and observe, albeit at a distance, leading lights in journalism including the great Aggrey Klaaste, Joe Thloloe and Thami Mazwai, going about their business.

Although at the time the newspaper was based in Industria, western Johannesburg, Klaaste was a regular at Sauer Street, where on occasion, one would bump into him in the lift.

My abiding memory of the man was of him always having a book in his hand. Klaaste was of course more than just an editor of a newspaper, big as Sowetan was at the time; it sold an enviable 200,000 copies a day.

What really made Klaaste a household name far beyond Johannesburg was his nation-building project. It was a timely and necessary intervention by the editor and his associates who were trying to heal the wounds inflicted on the black community by successive apartheid governments. It was a brave attempt at rebuilding the nation and instilling a sense of pride and self-reliance. 

Thus Klaaste and Sowetan became synonymous with nation building. It is a pity that such a heroic and necessary project fell by the wayside after the inspirational Klaaste departed. His patriotism, love and passion for his community are sorely needed in SA today, where servant and selfless leadership have become rare commodities.

The new proprietors of Sowetan owe it to the man, and the community this iconic newspaper has served over 40 years, to support the revival of some version of Klaaste's great work.

My second stint at Sowetan was as an editor in 2016.

At this point, I wish to pay tribute to my predecessor, Mpumelelo Mkhabela to whom had fallen the unenviable but necessary task of ridding the newspaper of some bad habits that had become entrenched before his time;  habits that were not worthy of the newspaper of Klaaste and his associates.

I had a memorable and enjoyable time at Sowetan, a period during which I learnt a lot from my colleagues as well as my readers.

My editorship coincided with the relaunch and redesign of the newspaper, to what it looks like today. It was a difficult task, but one which I am happy to say was successfully completed.

Being a KwaZulu-Natal native, where I had edited several newspapers, editing a newspaper with the history of Sowetan, which had been very much the voice of the majority during the darkest days of apartheid, was a huge honour.

My colleagues and I always strove to do our best to produce a great read under increasingly difficult commercial pressures that unfortunately have become the lot of the print media worldwide.

I strongly believed and still do, that Sowetan was the authentic tribune of the majority, especially of the people of Gauteng where it was held in high esteem. 

This might sound arrogant on my part, but I believed other newspapers in the daily market in the province were just pretenders to the throne. Sowetan is not just another newspaper; it is an integral part of the fabric of this country. It has the potential, with the necessary investment and the support of its management and new owners, to continue to play a crucial role in shaping the affairs of our republic well into the future.

I hope it continues to play its watchdog role; indeed the past 11 years have taught us that if SA is to survive as a viable national state where the powerful are held to account, it needs robust newspapers such as Sowetan to fight the good fight and remain the voice of the people.

Here’s to another 40 years of weighty journalism!

• Mgwaba is former editor of Sowetan