South Africa’s leading independent newspaper, the Mail&Guardian, has been sold to Zimbabwean entrepreneur and newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube.
Ncube, who will relocate to Johannesburg, takes over as chairman and chief executive of the newspaper from outgoing Chief Executive Govin Reddy.
It was announced to Mail&Guardian staff on Tuesday afternoon that Ncube’s company, Newtrust Company Botswana Limited, would acquire a majority share of 87,5% in the Mail&Guardian’s publishing company MG Media from London-based Guardian Newspapers Limited. The Guardian will continue to hold a 10% stake in the newspaper.
As part of the deal, Ncube will acquire 35% of the Mail&Guardian Online, the internet publication of the Mail&Guardian newspaper. The other 65% is owned by internet service provider M-Web, the largest player in the South African dial-up subscriber market.
Ncube (39) is the majority shareholder, publisher and chief executive of two privately owned newspapers, the Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard.
Commenting on the acquisition, he said: ”My company’s long-term vision is to be a regional media player and the Mail&Guardian with its strong presence in the Southern African region has presented us with an opportunity to set this in motion.
”The Mail&Guardian is a quality product that has a proven track record in the democratic transformation taking place in South Africa and in the continent’s rebirth. Indeed, the Mail&Guardian is a giant symbol of press freedom.”
The sale was announced after a two-and-a-half year search for a new owner. The Guardian group, which estimates it has invested about R50-million in the Mail&Guardian over a 10-year period, said it considered about 10 proposals from different companies before choosing Ncube.
Said Bob Phillis from Guardian Newspapers Limited: ”We didn’t just sell to the highest bidder. We interviewed about 10 groups of potential buyers, but they didn’t meet the criteria we had set for the continued editorial and financial independence of the Mail&Guardian.”
”Guardian Newspapers is proud and privileged to have been able to support the Mail&Guardian over the years… the money we have put in has been a privilege because the Mail&Guardian has carried the flag of independent journalism in South Africa like nobody else,” said Phillis.
Ncube said that it was his aim to turn the loss-making Mail&Guardian into a profitable entity in the next two to three years.
The Zimbabwean businessman stressed that he highly valued the independence of the press, but said this independence depended on the newspaper’s commercial viability. He noted that press freedom was a vital ingredient of democracy and economic prosperity.
”We wouldn’t have gone into this deal if we didn’t think we could turn this newspaper around and make a profit,” said Ncube.
Ncube hinted that there could be synergies with his newspaper interests in Zimbabwe and other independent newspapers in Africa.
”The Mail&Guardian has an African presence, and we are going to ask how best we can serve the African continent. We need to link up with other independent newspapers in Africa. There should be synergies with the Zimbabwe Independent group, which could be extended to Zambia and other African countries,” said Ncube.
Ncube confirmed that the newspaper’s name would not change: ”The Mail&Guardian is such a great brand it would be folly for anyone to change that. We like the brand and we are keeping the brand.”
Ncube said that it had been a long-standing goal of his to be associated with a publication such as the Mail&Guardian, which he said was ”an emblematic champion of the struggle for a democratic dispensation, not just in South Africa but in the region as a whole”.
As part of the terms of the sale, Guardian Newspapers Limited will continue to provide print and online news content to the Mail&Guardian. Guardian Newspapers Limited will also retain a seat on the Mail& Guardian board.
Govin Reddy, the Mail&Guardian’s outgoing chief executive will remain at the company in a consultative capacity during the newspaper’s transitional phase.
Ncube became one of the founders and shareholders of the Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard in 1996 and 1997 respectively. He was editorial director of the Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard between 1998 and 2000 and editor in chief of the Zimbabwe Independent between 1998 and 2000.
In 2000, Ncube became publisher and chief executive of the Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, a position he still holds.
He began his journalist career in 1989 as assistant editor of Finance Gazette and was executive editor between 1991 and 1996. In 1994 he received the Zimbabwe Editor of the year award.
Before entering journalism, Ncube spent time as a teacher and as assistant lecturer in the History Department of the University of Zimbabwe. He has been acting chair of the Commonwealth Press Union since 1999.
The Mail&Guardian was formerly known as The Weekly Mail, which launched in 1985. In 1991, Guardian Newspapers Limited began working with The Weekly Mail and in 1995 became the majority shareholder in the paper which was then renamed the Mail&Guardian.
The Mail&Guardian has a circulation of more than 41 000 issues per week and has won numerous awards for its in-depth, investigative journalism.