09-06-2025
‘It's not goodbye, but thank you' – Mondli Makhanya signs off after nine passionate years at the helm of City Press
It was back in the 1980s that the love affair began.
This lowly newspaperman was just a youngster in the soulful township of KwaMashu. The house was always full of newspapers. During the week, it was The Natal Mercury and the Daily News. On Monday and Thursday, it would be (begrudgingly) Ilanga lase Natal. Begrudgingly because the newspaper that was founded in 1903 by John Dube, who later became the first president of the ANC, had been bought by Inkatha (the forerunner to the IFP) in 1987.
Under the ownership of the Bantustan party, it was always spewing the gospel according to Mangosuthu Buthelezi and his band of bloodthirsty disciples, and denigrating the forces that were fighting apartheid.
From the progressive segment there was what was called the 'alternative press', feisty and insightful newspapers such as the Weekly Mail, the New African, New Nation, UmAfrika and South. On Sunday would land City Press, the Sunday Times and the Sunday Tribune.
It was always a veritable feast and, for a young news addict, it was also a huge distraction from schoolwork. Especially since some close comrades would arrive in the evenings and weekends to partake in the feast as everyone knew that there would be a newspaper buffet at the ready. The readings would inevitably be followed by much discussion and hectic arguments as we delved into the meaning of what we had consumed and what it all entailed for the revolution.
It was during this time that the love affair with this wonderful institution began. At the time it was led by a giant intellect by the name of Percy Qoboza. The man was the legendary editor of City Press. His column, Percy's Itch, was unmissable for both its prose, penetrating insights and courageous positions. Reading Qoboza's writing was like walking through a well-manicured park that is replete with beautiful flowers, wild thorns, majestic trees and birds chirping beautifully in the branches. Did we forget the porcupines that could prick the thickest skin?
The man's courage was beyond measure. He had been clashing with the apartheid regime since the early 1970s as editor of the outspoken The World newspaper, which was eventually banned in 1977, along with anti-apartheid organisations and other publications.
Qoboza's detention, continued harassment and threats did not stop his fire. As editor of City Press, he moulded the publication in his image: fearless, uncompromising with truth, charismatic, entertaining and generally full of nonsense.
It was that man whose work inspired this lowly newspaperman in those teenage years to want to be a member of this most noble tribe that we consider the highest species on earth. But the thought of ever sitting in Qoboza's seat was the furthest thing from the mind.
The only ambition was to be nearly as good as this icon and to be nearly as full of sh*t as he was. In life, we all have heroes whose qualities we aspire to emulate. They become your lodestar because of all the positives they possess. Faultless not. Fallible lots.
In my more than 35 years of journalism, of which 23 have been spent in the editorship of various newspapers, I have tried to follow the lodestar that was Percy Qoboza. I have for the past nine years had the fortune of sitting on the chair that Qoboza sat on, steering the ship that a great captain once steered.
It has been a privilege to work with teams that greatly loved this republic and understood the ethos that Qoboza and those who followed him left us. Together we exposed malfeasance during the rule of the Gupta dynasty when their loyal servant Jacob Zuma gave the greasy family control of the country and its resources.
We broke big political stories and unpacked complex political and judicial processes. We covered South Africa's recovery from that traumatic period as the country's engine spluttered back to life.
We were empathic as we told stories of the still downtrodden masses who are being failed by the democracy they strongly believe in. We fought for the sustainability of the rule of law. We helped South Africans manage their lives through informed advice pages.
We were at the centre of policy debates about how to achieve inclusive growth and be a fair society. We gave the South African cultural sector a massive boost and entertained society with exclusive and in-depth forays into Celebville.
We were in the backline, midfield and front row of sports coverage as we captured triumphs and heartbreaks in prominent and obscure sports disciplines.
To be a journalist in South Africa comes with the joy of being a chronicler of a nation being moulded. We have had a ringside seat in one of the great dramas of our times where a nation was born out of fire and became a poster child of what humanity could achieve if we put our minds to it.
The ringside seat also gave us privileged insight into how easily that great feat can be undone, as we witnessed when the randy, corrupt polygamist took us to the edge of doom.
We have been able to share in joyous moments when our artists and sportspeople conquered the world. We have also witnessed tragedy when the state failed its people and even oversaw a bloody massacre.
But being a journalist in this country comes with an added duty of being part of that nation-building project. We have had the responsibility of helping our once-divided country forge a nation and live up to the Constitution's opening line that 'South Africa belongs to all who live in it'.
This lowly newspaperman is proud to have been editor in chief of a City Press that rose to the challenge of being more than just a newspaper. A newspaper that was a nation-builder, an activist, a dutiful citizen and an uncompromising defender of the Constitution.
The City Press that I hand over to a new editor has vast horizons ahead of it. At the beginning of this year, we took a big leap by becoming a purely digital publication, having published our final print edition at the end of December. This has opened up wide vistas that will ensure we are here to serve South Africa way into the future. This leap is enabling us to tell stories in more creative and innovative ways as we continue our mission of being a servant of this nation's people.
It is now time for me to move to a role within the Media24 stable, where I will be more available to all the excellent publications in South Africa's biggest and most influential media organisation. So, this is not a goodbye to City Press. I will still be very much part of this great institution that I fell in love with back in the 1980s. This is just a thank you to you, the readers, for having walked this path with this lowly newspaperman.
And as billions of humans have done since the time of the pharaohs and the writing of Ezekiel chapter 37, this lowly newspaperman urges: Always, always, always love Orlando Pirates Football Club.
