Ferial Haffajee appointed editor of the Mail & Guardian

The appointment of Haffajee, a trainee at the newspaper in 1991, has been hailed as "courageous" and "another triumph for the Mail & Guardian's training programme". She is now also the only female editor of a major South African newspaper.

Haffajee (36) takes over on February 1 from Mondli Makhanya, who is taking up the editorship of the Sunday Times.

Trevor Ncube, chief executive officer of the M&G, made the announcement to an elated staff on Thursday morning. "I think it was a bold decision, one that the market was not expecting," he said. "The first black woman editor is a milestone, but it was not about being politically correct. It says a lot about Ferial - she has the intellect, passion and focus to take the newspaper forward."

Haffajee's illustrious journalistic career spans the media: she worked as a radio and television reporter at the South African Broadcasting Corporation, but always returned to her first love - print. She was senior editor and managing editor at the Financial Mail, a leading business magazine, between 1999 and 2003, and returned to the M&G last year as associate editor.

She said the appointment is a dream job. "I know it sounds like a cliché, but I started here in journalism and it spoilt me for anywhere else."

Haffajee said: "I think that Mondli and Trevor [Ncube] set the tone for a 21st-century Mail & Guardian. So I'll continue on that path. The key areas will remain strong investigative journalism and to be a political trends leader. We will continue to be a leader in our coverage of the rest of Africa and to reclaim our place as the home of cutting-edge features and photojournalism."

She will focus on gender issues and recognise female leadership: "It is a courageous move to appoint a woman, but we must also remember this has always been a place with women in leadership."

Makhanya, who was also once a trainee at the paper, said: "Ferial's appointment makes leaving the Mail & Guardian less painful."

He said the ethos of the newspaper lives in Haffajee and she is undoubtedly one of the finest minds in journalism. "Another quality she possesses is integrity. At a juncture when we are trying to strengthen South African journalism and encourage our public and private institutions, we need editors like Ferial to head up the power houses of African journalism."