 | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Arena Holdings |
| Editor | Nwabisa Makunga |
| Founded | 2 February 1981 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Johannesburg |
| Website | www |
The Sowetan is an English-languageSouth African daily newspaper that started in 1981 as aliberation struggle newspaper and was freely distributed to households in the then apartheid-segregatedtownship ofSoweto,Johannesburg,Gauteng Province.
It is one of the largest national newspapers in South Africa. Regarded as having a left-leaning editorial tone, it carried a readership of almost 2 million and a circulation of 124,000 in 2006.[1]
The newspaper is the property of a South African media company Arena Holdings (formerly Tiso Blackstar Group, Avusa, and Times Media Group). Before that, it belonged to Dr.Nthato Motlana (1925–30 November 2008), a prominent South African businessman, physician andanti-apartheid activist, who took a leading role in the formation of theNew African Investments Limited (NAIL), which purchasedThe Sowetan following theapartheid.[2]
The Sowetan was founded in 1981 as a replacement of thePost Transvaal newspaper, which itself consisted of editorial staff that migrated from another newspaper,The World. At the time, there was a total strike at thePost (for better increases). The strike lasted so long that thePost, which was financially independent from the Argus printing and publishing, nearly went bankrupt, resulting in the property and printing presses being sold to Caxtons. Caxtons then got the contract to print thePost and another building was found in Industria.
Two days before publishing thePost, the government decided to ban it again. ThePost had more newspaper names registered, and after some deliberation, it was decided to go withThe Sowetan. This was a weekly, Saturday and Sunday paper. The latter was later closed as it was never financially viable.The Sowetan never was a free sheet as it was never published before this date. The name was registered at the time with the intention to publish at a rather huge cost. It was one of more titles registered as a backup at the time.
Initial sales were slow because people wrongly assumed thatThe Sowetan had only news from Soweto. It was in fact a countrywide newspaper from the beginning and was distributed in theTransvaal,Natal,Orange Free State, with copies also going toPort Elizabeth andCape Town. Due to the poor sales and high costs, the Port Elizabeth and Cape Town distribution was stopped after a few years. It took nearly two years before it was accepted and sales started soaring.Percy Qoboza was the editor at the time but was soon replaced byJoe Latakgomo. Latagomo started as a sports editor in 1967. Later Latakgomo left and joinedThe Star, after receiving death threats, and was replaced byAggrey Klaaste, who was editor from 1988 to 2002.
| 2008 | 2013 | |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Cape | Y | |
| Free State | Y | Y |
| Gauteng | Y | Y |
| Kwa-Zulu Natal | Y | Y |
| Limpopo | Y | Y |
| Mpumalanga | Y | Y |
| North West | Y | Y |
| Northern Cape | Y | Y |
| Western Cape | Y | Y |
| Net Sales | |
|---|---|
| Jan – Mar 2015 | 99 244[5] |
| Jan – Mar 2014 | 99 403[5] |
| Oct – Dec 2012 | 100 349 |
| Jul – Sep 2012 | 101 155 |
| Apr – Jun 2012 | 98 156 |
| Jan – Mar 2012 | 98 128 |
| AIR | |
|---|---|
| January – December 2012 | 1 646 000 |
| July 2011 – June 2012 | 1 651 000 |
