MIKE SILUMA | Sowetan integrally linked with the lives of its readers

As Sowetan celebrates its 45th anniversary this week, it and its legion of readers can look back with pride at the heritage of one of SA’s iconic media brands. From its inception, Sowetan was a media trailblazer, establishing itself as more than a newspaper but as a media brand integrally linked with the lives of its reader community. But in the context of the intensifying Struggle against apartheid, the programme had its detractors, who felt that it did not directly confront the apartheid government.

However, Klaaste and his leadership team, including the likes of Joe Tlholoe, Sam Mabe and Thami Mazwai, persevered, with nation building eventually gaining widespread recognition and respect, including in political circles. We will strive for the achievement of justice for all the peoples of this country Through nation building, Sowetan sought to show that, contrary to the impression apartheid tried to create, the lives of black people were not one-dimensional and that they had as much a right to live freely and aspire to fulfilling lives as human beings anywhere else. Nation building spawned many community upliftment initiatives, catering to the varied needs of the black community.

In its own way, it asserted that black lives, and the quality of those lives, mattered. At a time when the issues facing black businesses were marginalised in the mainstream media, Sowetan sought to give black businesses and entrepreneurs a voice by creating a business section. To empower women socially and economically, the paper ran a successful and vibrant women’s club, which foregrounded various issues preventing progress for black women in particular.