David Beresford
FREDERICK VAN ZYL SLABBERT has been offered the editorship of the Sunday Times as successor to Ken Owen, but has rejected it.
The former Progressive Federal Party leader this week confirmed rumours about the proposal. ”Yes, I was offered and I declined after serious consideration,” he said. He declined to comment further.
It is believed that the offer was made by Vaughan Bray, who is managing director of Johnnic — the Johannesburg Consolidated Investments subsidiary which effectively controls the Sunday Times — as well as chairman of Times Media Limited, the Times’ immediate owners.
The reasons for Slabbert’s decision are not clear, but he is known to have had serious reservations about the vague plans of the English-language newspaper groups for black empowerment.
The search for a successor to Owen is becoming more intractable as the time for his retirement approaches. He is officially due to retire in June, but he is expected to go early in the New Year because of accumulated leave. There is now speculation at TML that his deputy editor, Brian Pottinger, may be made acting editor as a stop-gap measure.