Editorial shuffles at Independent Newspapers

Makhudu Sefara has been appointed as the new editor of The Star. Jovial Rantao, deputy editor of The Star, has been appointed editor of the Sunday Tribune in Durban. Philani Mgwaba, the current editor of the Sunday Tribune, assumes the editorship of The Mercury in Durban, Moshoeshoe Monare, an executive editor on The Star, has been appointed editor of The Sunday Independent and the current editor of The Star, Moegsien Williams, will become the editor-in-chief of the group's newspaper titles in Gauteng.

Ongoing commitment

Howard said the group was excited to be in a position to make such appointments from within its own ranks and to show its ongoing commitment to skilled journalists for its papers.

He added Sefara's appointment to the editorship of The Star, which marks its 125th anniversary this year, signals the company's intention to introduce young and vibrant leadership that would lead the newspaper into an exciting new era of service to the residents of Johannesburg.

"Safara will deepen the entrenched values of the paper in a more exciting way and at the same time will broaden its appeal to new markets.

"We are already in the midst of an information revolution. Over the next few decades, The Star needs to secure its future as a newspaper and, as part of our online developments, an information provider on multiple platforms. More importantly, we need to ensure the survival and growth of one of the best newspaper brands in South Africa.

"Makhudu is among our cadre of young and energetic editors who has shown great editorial skill in turning around The Sunday Independent, among only a few of the more established newspapers in South Africa to have shown circulation growth in the last few years. The daily Star will present him with a bigger challenge which I'm sure he will relish and overcome," said Howard.

"Rise through the ranks"

Howard said he was pleased about Rantao's appointment to the editorship of the Sunday Tribune.

"He joined our company as a cub reporter and it's heartening to have watched his rise through the ranks to the editorship of one of our biggest titles. After a long spell of apprenticeship on The Star, I am confident he will turn The Tribune, our flagship title in KwaZulu-Natal, into a bigger and better success."

Howard said Mgwaba, who returns to the paper where he started as a cub reporter, would be able to apply his considerable skills picked up as the launch editor of the highly successful Zulu-language Isolezwe, the editor of the Pretoria News and the Sunday Tribune. "He will bring to bear his all-round skills and experience to produce a better and more profitable Mercury, one of the country's oldest newspapers. I'm confident he'll do an outstanding job in the Durban/KZN market which he knows well."

"Take it to greater heights"

He said Monare was one of the more impressive young editors in South African journalism. "As a company, we have invested and persisted since 1995 with a different kind of Sunday offering with The Sunday Independent. It's now a well-established product within our stable and I'm confident Moshoeshoe will take it to greater heights and make it a "must-read" serious newspaper on a Sunday."

Howard said the company needed the experience of Williams, the group's most senior editor, on a wider front. "He has served on several of our titles with distinction but we now need his broad experience to help deal with a fast-changing industry, a fraught political situation and to deepen our journalism which is at the heart of our business."