The Association of Independent Publishers (AIP) is happy to announce that it has elected new leadership. Anetta Mangxaba (pictured) will be taking over as new Chairperson, bringing her wealth of experience and vision to the role. Additionally, Johannes Makgate has been elected as the Deputy Chair. Mangxaba is the publisher of Dizindaba Media, a company that owns a small commercial newspaper, Dizindaba Iphephandaba lesiXhosa, launched in February 2010 to service the under-served isiXhosa community in the Western Cape. Makgate, launched Glimpse Magazine in the NorthWest in 2007 to address issues affecting the Ngaka Modiri Molema community.
AIP veteran publisher, Mbali Dhlomo stepped down in June after three years at the helm. Dhlomo took on the role of chairperson for a second time in 2021, at the tail end of Covid. Dhlomo states, “This was a particularly difficult time for AIP and its publishers. AIP’s chairperson, Wandile Fana passed away during this period”. Dhlomo worked tirelessly to rebuild AIP. The Association thus extend its heartfelt gratitude to her for her dedicated service and leadership.
In other important news, a number of AIP members were selected in June to participate in the Amplify South Africa Programme. Amplify was launched by the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) to provide mentoring, capacity strengthening and grant funding to help media businesses build their revenues, audiences and innovation.
Congratulations to the following outstanding publishers:
- Slindile Khanyile, owner of Likhanyile Group
- Dunisani Ntsanwisi, owner of Nthavela Newspaper
- Moipone Malefane, owner of Vutivi Business News
- Shirley Govender, owner of Xenor Projects
- Anton van Zyl, owner of Zoutnet CC
The AIP further announced that three of its publications have been shortlisted for the prestigious Federation of Community Journalists (FCJ) Awards: Limpopo Mirror, Zoutpansberger, and Pondoland Times. Limpopo Mirror has been nominated in the categories of “Writing – Hard News”, “Investigative Reporting”, “Sport” and “Paid Newspaper of the Year”. The Zoutpansberger has been nominated in the categories of “Writing – Hard News”, “Investigative Reporting”, and “Sport”. Pondoland Times has been shortlisted for “Writing – Vernacular”.
