Eddie Koch
A community newspaper that became the scourge of Colesberg when it published exposes of racism, corruption and third force actions in the small Karoo town during the early 1990s is alive and well — at a time when most “alternative” media projects in South Africa have shut down.
The Toverberg Indaba was launched in three languages by Antony and Maider Osler, sons of legendary Springbok centre Stanley Osler, in 1990 to cover political, civic and labour issues in Colesberg and on the sheep farms that surround the town.
“There was a total news vacuum at the time except for a small publication that dealt only with issues that interested the town’s white minority. We decided to publish in three languages from the start (English, Xhosa and Afrikaans) so that we could cater for all the people of the district,” said co-editor Maider Osler.
The paper antagonised Colesberg’s established white society, but was a hit in the local coloured and African townships with its provocative and independent style of reporting.
It had a symbiotic relationship from the start with the Karoo Law Centre, a branch of Lawyers for Human Rights, which is run by brother Antony.
The advice office provided extensive copy dealing with police assaults, civic issues in the townships and labour problems on the farms.
While a range of other alternative publications that depended on foreign funding — including Vrye Weekblad, New African, South and New Ground — have recently closed, the Toverberg Indaba survived to compete effectively with the mainstream Colesberg Advertiser.
Co-editor Peter Westoby said the monthly paper originally depended on funding from overseas but was now able to attract advertising from the regional services council and the local town council, which has allowed it to survive into the post-apartheid era. Its circulation averages 2 000, probably double that of its commercial rival, and is considered a success given the tiny size of the town.
One of the Toverberg’s most memorable stories was a 1992 expose of a labour project run in the agricultural areas by Adult Education Consultants, a military intelligence front company, designed to ensure that farmers and their labourers remained loyal to the National Party.
This kind of reporting had the brothers and other staffers ostracised in conservative white circles and some of the shops in town refused to sell the paper.
The Oslers received information in the early 1990s that military intelligence agents had actively encouraged members of the town’s commercial establishment not to advertise in the paper.
The Toverberg Indaba also came under heavy fire from militants in the township civic association who objected to reports about internecine conflicts between the civic and the local branch of the African National Congress. The paper received warnings that it would be “closed in three and a half minutes” if it did not stop publishing details about these conflicts.
More recent editions covered racism in the local high school where coloured pupils were refused admission, reports about a town councillor who tried to demolish one of the town’s historic houses and a story about pantechnicons that rumble through the town on their way to Cape Town from Gauteng.
“Although we had a tough time in the early days, we are now finding a surprising amount of support from all sectors of Colesberg society,” said Westoby. “The trucks story proved to be very popular with lots of people and we run boxes of practical advice that appeal to a range of people.”
The success of the paper, which took its title from the original name given to a nearby hill by early Dutch trekboers, may also have something to do with its reputation for including details about sheep in a sheep-mad society on the front page of each edition. It runs as a co-operative and has trained a number of local photographers and reporters.
The Oslers’ father, centre Stanley Osler, and uncle, flyhalf Benny Osler, were the most famous pair of brothers to have played for the Springboks.
SABC Television News Productions head Jill Chisholm in