Kathorus MAIL turns 20

It began sometime around early 2001 when I first realised that there was a need for a local newspaper to serve the interests of communities of the three largest townships in what was then known as the East Rand.

After I relocated from Pimville, Soweto, in 1988, I had been living in Vosloorus for almost 13 years. By now the country’s new political dispensation had changed after ushering in South Africa’s first democratic black president, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, in 1994.

This was also the beginning of the opening up of opportunities for many previously disadvantaged blacks in the country, including myself.

At that point, I had spent almost 23 years of my working life as a news reporter and a self-taught photographer at publications such as Drum Magazine, True Love, and later City Press – all of them were part of the Jim Bailey stable of publications where I started my career in 1978.

In 1988 I left Jim to join the world of music where I was appointed founding editor of the group’s music magazine, Jive.

Jive became the first successful black music publication to be supported by the entire local as well as their international subsidiaries in the music industry.

Local musicians, artists, music events and theatre performers were many of the people in the arts who often graced the pages of the magazine.

When former DRUM and True Love Magazine editors, Tony Sutton and Kerry Swift struck a side-hustle deal with the Nafcoc (National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry) to produce a bursary school magazine called Black Chain Today in Soweto, I was approached to edit the publication.

But the dream of doing my own thing was always there. I wanted to be a publisher, specifically catering for the area where I lived.

Following several extensive enquiries and consultations with many of my white colleagues in the media, all of whom gave me the “thumbs up” and encouraged me to take the “plunge” into the mainly white-dominated publishing industry, I decided to take the bull by the horns and venture into this business of newspaper ownership, publishing and printing.

By now, in 2002, I realised I had garnered enough experience over the years to venture into publishing. Of course, little did I know that just like being a journalist, being a newspaper publisher does not necessarily guarantee wealth and a sign of a good life.

The objective was to create a media voice for the people of Kathorus which would be a “bridge” between the community, the municipality and other government stakeholders such as the police and the local business industries.

My first stop was at the Germiston office of the then mayor of Ekurhuleni, Duma Nkosi. I remember sitting with the mayor and his spokesperson, Prince Hamnca, in the mayoral office where I outlined my plans to both about launching Kathorus MAIL.

At first, I could sense their reluctance to engage with me fully on the subject, until I assured them that the venture would be of no financial burden to the municipality as I believed I could finance myself. One thing I would, however, expect from them would be advertising support to ensure the sustainability of the new publication.

That afternoon of May 2002, having convinced and assured Nkosi of my plans, I walked out of his office with a broad smile on and went straight home to begin preparation for the launch of Kathorus MAIL, which I had planned for August, a mere three months away.

Working from my eldest daughter’s bedroom at home, for the next two months, I tasked myself with selling advertising to as many local businesses as possible.

With no marketing experience and no official rate card, I began knocking on the doors of a number of local businesses, among them One-Up Spares in Katlehong, Wadeville Spares in Wadeville, Solly’s Clothing Manufacturers in Fordsburg, Africa Muslim Agency – a Muslim welfare organisation in Mayfair, Marimba Pharmacy in Vosloorus and Africa Cash and Carry –then one of the Gauteng’s biggest wholesalers also situated in Mayfair.

A friend by the name of Mohammed, whom I had known for years, volunteered to do my page layout for a fee of R50 a page as well as negotiate the printing of the newspaper with Seculo Printers in Ormonde.

Hoping to attract more potential advertisers with my first issue, I printed my first 20 000 copies at (for me) the astronomical cost of R5 000.

A mere three months down the line, in October of that year, the realisation dawned that publishing a newspaper was not going to be as easy as I had anticipated. Only Africa Cash and Carry and about two or three of the other advertisers remained supportive while the rest simply fell away and their advertisements became irregular.

However, having tasted the freedom of being my own boss and the financial independence that comes with it, I had no option but to reduce my print order to 10 000 copies and continue publishing and providing the community of Kathorus with what I hoped would one day become the largest circulating free community newspaper to the community of Kathorus.

At the beginning of 2003, I met veteran Afrikaans newspaper reporter, the late Andries Botha. He became my first professional adviser and mentor who was to later open more opportunities for the newspaper.

Botha later introduced me to the management of an independent press in Potchefstroom where I was offered a better printing price.

It was around this time that my involvement with Print Media SA led to my involvement with other independent publishers such as Justin Arenstein, Danie O’Reilly, Mansoor Jaffer and the man who was later to become a valuable guide and a very special friend, brother and mentor, Anton van Zyl. Anton is the publisher of the Limpopo Mirror and the Zoutpansberger newspapers, based in Louis Trichardt.

It was this close relationship with Anton that helped take Kathorus MAIL through difficult times in the volatile and turbulent newspaper publishing industry.

Steadily under Anton’s guidance and mentorship, the financial situation began to improve and the paper attracted the advertising support of organisations such as the Clinix Hospitals Group, Total SA, Springbok Pharmacy, Fair Price, Build-It and many others.

When Kathorus MAIL won the Best Emerging Community Newspaper Award at the Sanlam Community Media Awards in 2004, the sheer joy of being finally recognised and accepted by my peers in the industry was overwhelming.

The growth of Kathorus MAIL as a stand-alone, fully-fledged community newspaper was not only noticed by our readers but also advertisers.

Major national newspaper publishers were also beginning to take notice of our contribution and impact in the community media industry, albeit our size in the broader media landscape. There is no doubt that our perceived insignificance was making a huge difference in the local media landscape.

It was a few years later that I received an e-mail from the Caxton Media Group indicating a willingness to engage Kathorus MAIL in a joint business venture. Once again, it was my dear friend, mentor and brother, van Zyl that I first called to deliver the exciting news about the Caxton business deal.

And in his ever-cautionary advice, Anton warned me; “I would advise you not to get too excited about it for now. Just continue running your paper as you’ve always done”.

Sobering as the advice was, what he was saying made me appreciate his professional guidance and mentorship and made me realise that I’ve made an impression on some very important people in the media industry.

However, negotiations for the joint business venture with the Caxton Group, one of South Africa’s premier media networks, seemed to take forever as rumours about the deal began to saturate the community media fraternity and colleagues were beginning to ask questions. Caxton was also one of the major supporters and benefactors of the prestigious annual Sanlam Community Media Awards.

On July 24th, 2015, your favourite Lokshin paper, Kathorus MAIL, joined the Caxton stable of community newspapers.

Our monthly print order of 12 000 copies was soon increased to 55 000 copies every fortnight and our distribution footprint was restructured to ensure the newspaper reaches a larger sector of the Kathorus community.

To celebrate the milestones of our journey as independent publishers in December 2019, Anton and I embarked on a lifetime experience to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Arusha, Tanzania.

The adventure will remain the second milestone for Anton and me, after our two-week trip to the US in 2017 as guests of Prof John Hatcher of the Faculty of Journalism at the Duluth campus of the University of Minnesota.

The interaction with journalism students on campus as well as the interviews and exchange of ideas with the indigenous community newspaper publishers and a radio station in Minnesota was one of the highlights that will remain in our hearts.

It’s been a long, hard and worthwhile struggle which has finally turned into a lifetime journey of hard work and dedication to a commitment I made to the Nkosi in 2002. The promises were to provide the people of Kathorus with the best community newspaper ever.

May we travel further together into the future as we look forward to yet another 20 years of providing our readers and advertisers with a very unique medium of communication.

May our readers benefit from our vision and dreams of an even bigger and better Kathorus MAIL in the future.
I would like to thank all those who have made this journey possible from the bottom of my heart.

The Editor

Zaid Sipho Khumalo