It is the third largest regional economy in South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal is not planning to slow down soon. The province takes a nearly 17 percent share of the total Gross Domestic Product in South Africa, the second-highest after Gauteng’s 33 percent. It is one of only three provinces, including Gauteng and the Western Cape, to have shown higher economic growth than the national average, according to 2005 figures provided by Statistics South Africa.
Its strong economy creates the ideal environment for a dynamic media industry and KZN is without a doubt leading the way when it comes to Zulu media. Which other province in the country can boast several vernacular – and successful – newspapers? The launch of a Xhosa paper is on the cards for the Eastern Cape but at the moment it is still only talk.
“The growth of the Zulu-language press is prominent in KZN. There are three vibrant newspapers,” says professor Ruth Teer-Tomaselli of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, adding that its success is playing a crucial educational role.
“The vernacular newspapers are making publications accessible to people who have never read a newspaper before.”
A glance at the Zulu press’ circulation figures is telling. The weekly Ilanga Langesonto nearly doubled its circulation in the past two years while Media24’s Zulu weekly, umAfrika, increased its circulation by some 30 percent and Isolezwe maintained stable growth (see box). Caxton Magazines’ Bona is also based in Durban and publishes in English, seSotho, isiZulu and isiXhosa, and remains a market leader in multi-language publishing.
On the broadcast front, the newsmaker of the year must be Zulu-English Gagasi FM, which upped its listeners from some 600,000 in 2005 to an astonishing 942,000 last year. Previously known as P4 Durban, many speculated that its re-launch to Gagasi FM might poach listeners from the powerful Ukhozi FM, a Zulu-language station based in KwaZulu-Natal and owned by the SABC. But not so. Ukhozi continued to grow steadily, with its listenership numbers now nearly touching 6.3-million, while the multi-cultural East Coast Radio lost some listeners, and they were most likely migrating to Gagasi FM.
Nowhere else in the country have we seen such success in the vernacular media. Does KZN’s demographics make it a special case or can the rest of the country follow suit, especially the richest province in South Africa, Gauteng?
According to Amps 2005/2006, KZN seems to have an advantage when it comes to newspaper consumption. Some 75 percent of the KZN population consumes newspapers compared to Gauteng’s 66 percent. Its top three newspapers are the Sunday Times, Sunday Tribune and Isolezwe, whose largest chunk of readers are in the middle income LSM 5 – 7 groups and probably represent a growing black middleclass.
The language preference in KZN for radio and television news is split between Zulu and English while Gauteng is often equally split between Zulu and Afrikaans, with a preference for Sotho slightly higher and English remaining the dominant player.
Preferences in newspaper consumption follow the same trend (see graphs). In KwaZulu-Natal, nearly 40 percent of Zulu speakers want to read their newspaper in their home language, while that figure drops to four percent in Gauteng. The numbers for magazines are very similar – 36 percent of the KZN population want to consume magazines in Zulu (an interesting piece of information for potential publishers) while only four percent of Nguni speakers and five percent of Sotho speakers would want that in Gauteng.
Past 7 Days newspaper reading data is also insightful when comparing two of the richest provinces in South Africa. In KZN, only 16 percent of LSM 5 – 7 groups and 12 percent of LSM 8 – 10 groups do not read any newspaper. Meanwhile, Gauteng’s population is much lazier with some 24 percent of the LSM 5 -7 groups and 22 percent of the upper LSM groups not consuming newspapers.
These statistics tell a story of KZN – that it harbours a culturally proud population living in an economic environment lending itself to growth and opportunity. Would any other province be able to pull off such a vernacular success? Perhaps the rest of the country is not as passionate about language and culture, or perhaps it is a merely a case of nobody being brave enough to take a risk?
KwaZulu-Natal Fast Facts
Capital: Pietermaritzburg
Major city: Durban
Languages: 80.9 percent isiZulu, 73.6 percent English, 1.5 percent Afrikaans
Population: 9,904,698 (2006)
Share of SA population: 20.9 percent
Area: 94,361 square kilometers
Share of total SA area: 7.7 percent
Population density: 105 people per square kilometer
Gross regional product: R206.8-billion (2003)
Share of total SA GDP: 16.7 percent
Source: www.SouthAfrica.info