Magazines News South Africa

Wiel ceases publication

Afrikaans motoring title Wiel will cease publication this month, publisher RamsayMedia has announced. The February 2011 issue will be its last. The magazine closes its doors after more than 30 years, the last four of which have been under the RamsayMedia banner.
Wiel ceases publication

Ongoing revenue challenges had made the decision inevitable, publisher Neil Piper said.

"Wiel did not enjoy the levels of advertising support needed to sustain its publication, there was limited potential on its other media platforms and newsstand sales continued to disappoint," he elaborated. "Despite our best efforts, we had no choice but to close the magazine, the only Afrikaans motoring title in South Africa."

Wiel was launched in 1978 by Jannie Herbst, now editor of Leisure Wheels, also in the RamsayMedia stable. It was sold several times before joining RamsayMedia's flagship brand, CAR, in 2006, under the editorship of Ferde de Vos. François Rabe, then deputy editor, took the helm in 2008.

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