Johannesburg - Independent Media says it has made Mazwi Xaba permanent editor of Isolezwe.
Xaba, who rejoined Isolezwe as acting editor in March following the resignation of Sazi Hadebe, was part of the founding editorial team that launched the vibrant isiZulu in 2002. He has also served as deputy editor of the Sunday Tribune.
“I’ve come full circle, from helping to get the publication off the ground to being at the helm. It is an honour for me to serve our readers in their mother tongue and help to grow vernacular media in South Africa”, said Xaba.
Isolezwe is South Africa’s biggest vernacular publication and along with its Saturday and Sunday publications, Isolezwe Ngomgqibelo and Isolezwe NgeSonto, reaches in excess of 2.2 million readers.
In an environment which has seen a gradual decline in newspaper readership, the trio of Isolezwe publications have held their own and have shown a year on year growth of 13 percent for the period 2014/15.
“Growing the vernacular market is part of Independent Media’s strategy. Mazwi, with his wealth of editorial experience and his solid understanding of his readers’ and advertisers’ needs, will play a valuable role in executing our strategy. We wish him and the team continued success”, said Executive Chairman of Independent Media, Dr Iqbal Survé.
Dr Survé said Independent Media is going through an exciting phase of its development with the company focusing on providing innovative content solutions to its clients on multiple platforms, while enriching the reader experience.
Independent Media’s publications in KZN include Daily News, The Mercury, Sunday Tribune, Independent on Saturday and Post.
IOL