The East London-based Daily Dispatch has appointed Phylicia Oppelt as its first woman editor. The 35-year-old, formerly of the Sunday Times, will take over the 132-year-old newspaper on January.
She replaces Gavin Stewart who has been editor for the past 10 years, the paper said.
Dispatch publisher Thembela Sofisa said Oppelt’s appointment was aimed ”at strengthening the Daily Dispatch so that the (paper) can successfully meet the needs of the intended target market”.
Oppelt is currently deputy managing editor of the Sunday Times.
Her 13-year career in journalism has included a stint as the Sunday Times correspondent in London.
She also won the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in 1998 and worked on the Washington Post where she covered Nelson Mandela’s state visit to the United States that year.
Oppelt said she was enormously excited about the opportunity of working at a newspaper like the Daily Dispatch which had a proud place within South African history.
”I am privileged to have become part of this tradition.”
Oppelt said the Eastern Cape was a province of great challenges and she was looking forward to working at a newspaper that could help guide the region to economic and social recovery.
”It is also important to showcase its positive aspects such as its literary and intellectual traditions, as well as being a centre of sporting excellence.
”The Dispatch needs to be a paper that will listen to and answer the concerns and aspirations of all the people of East London and the Eastern Cape,” Oppelt said.
Sofisa said Stewart would remain with the paper as its editorial consultant.
The Daily Dispatch is part of Johnnic Communications, which also owns the Sunday Times and Sowetan. – Sapa