In 2002, yours truly was appointed as the editor of this iconic paper. The brief from the new owners, the New African Publications (a part of the New African Investment or Nail), was to reposition it to track the transforming lives of its readership: the black African majority.
To fully appreciate the task at hand it’s important to understand where the country was at the time. The pace of socioeconomic change was staggering.
Thabo Mbeki was SA’s president after replacing Nelson Mandela, and F.W de Klerk had left formal party politics. For the first time, SA found itself with a larger-than-life former president in Mandela.
Mandela’s reconciliation agenda was making way for the transformation one to address the aspirations of the majority. If Mandela’s administration were tentative in its posture, Mbeki’s would be unapologetic. Thanks to transformation policies of the government, the 2000s would become a period of rapid economic growth and rise in the size of the black elite.
These aspirations required a voice that would speak credibly and intelligently for them. Sowetan would become this vehicle to champion and defend these black aspirations and defend black economic empowerment and the first-ever mining charter which came under attack.
Internally, this required a fit-for-purpose newsroom. New talent was brought in, new sections started and new voices – columnists, book excerpts and By Invitation contributions – became regular features. Attempts were made to strengthen the parts that worked.
Of course, it would be disingenuous to say this repositioning was a smooth project. A case in point was an attempt to dump the repositioning in the face of new competition. This discord was one of the lowest points of an otherwise potentially exciting project.
Sowetan managed to keep its proud place in the black community despite it being mistaken for a provincial paper for Sowetans.
When a retired Mandela was annoyed by George W Bush’s misguided attack on Iraq after accusing it of producing weapons of mass destruction, he turned to Sowetan to vent out his anger.
When a SA judge was accused of rape abroad, Winnie Mandela, Mandela’s estranged wife, reached out to Sowetan to vouch for the judge.
During a criminal trial that followed his failure to secure immunity, Eugene de Kock, the man known as prime evil for his role in the apartheid hit squads, he wrote to Sowetan, asking for pictures of his young self to be sent to his family which had since left him.
Famously, the community continued phoning Sowetan first when there was a house on fire or a crime was being committed. When the paper published incorrect funeral details in its In Memoriam pages, the switchboard was jammed with angry screams of relatives of the deceased. Such was the trust it bestowed on Sowetan.
De Klerk granted a rare sit-down interview with Sowetan after his name featured on the Boeremag hit list.
Throughout this period, the paper continued covering the struggles of ordinary people such as rising crime levels especially against the most vulnerable sectors of society.
In 1996, Mandela’s government dumped the Reconstruction and Development Programme in favour of the austerity plan (Growth, Employment and Redistribution). This would become the cause of the rift between the members of the ruling alliance. The paper covered this relationship breakdown during the early 2000s without fear and favour.
By and large, the newspaper stayed away from party political positions. This is despite the fact that the owners weren’t politically neutral. Still, critical voices such as the activist voice of Lucky Mazibuko, who wrote a regular column about living with AIDS, were accommodated.
In 2004, the paper took the unprecedented step of endorsing a political party – the ruling ANC – in the national elections. This well-considered decision was based on a solid analysis of the manifestos on offer from various political parties. The ANC would go on to win its largest majority ever.
Forty years on, it is good to know the paper is in good hands.
• Dludlu was editor of Sowetan, 2002-2004.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.