“The National Press Club will never forfeit its responsibility to defend media freedom in South Africa. “Media freedom is one of the cornerstones of democracy and this freedom, entrenched in the South African Constitution, should be guarded at all times,” says National Press Club Chairman Yusuf Ambramjee. “It is essential that the media industry and all South Africans honour Media Freedom Day – 19 October. This day gives us the perfect opportunity to reflect on how the scene has changed since the birth of South Africa’s democracy in 1994.” On 19 October 1977 the newspapers The World, Weekend World and Pro Veritate as well as several black consciousness organisations were banned. Editor Percy Qoboza was arrested and jailed together with other journalists, including former Sowetan editor Aggrey Klaaste. The day became known as Black Wednesday. “The National Press Club commemorates this dark day 32 years ago on which media freedom in South Africa was under threat. The banning of these organisations was a huge setback for media freedom in South Africa. We honour those organisations and veteran journalists who fought for freedom of speech. “Media freedom plays a very important role in any country. It is an essential pillar for any democracy as it creates and motivates public debate. The National Press Club, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, recognises it responsibility towards media freedom in South Africa. We see ourselves as a great platform for debate and discussions,” says Abramjee. The past year has seen the National Press Club move forward at a dynamic rate, hosting many newsworthy briefings like the recent ones with President Jacob Zuma, Athletics South Africa President Leonard Chuene, the Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa and new Police Commissioner Bheki Cele, the interim board of the SABC, the Gauteng Premier and MEC’s, the Minister of Home Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and the Mayor of Tshwane, Gwen Ramakgopa. 2 The club also awards a Newsmaker of the Year each year, based on the impact of the news that was generated and the amount of media coverage generated. The newsmakers for 2008 were Eskom and the Congress of the People. Previous recipients include President Thabo Mbeki and former Presidents Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk, Charlize Theron, Zachie Achmat and the Treatment Action Campaign, the late Hansie Cronjé, the South African Rand, Jacob Zuma, Helen Zille and a host of other prominent South Africans. The club recently met with editors in Gauteng who all pledged their support. (Ends) Issued by: Martin van Niekerk Junxion Communications Tel 012 804 5199 For: Yusuf Abramjee National Press Club Tel 082 441 4203 Date: 18 October 2009

Yusuf Abramjee, Primedia Broadcasting’s Head of News and Current Affairs, has been elected
chairperson of the National Press Club – Pretoria. This follows the election of a new executive
committee. Jos Charle, Executive Editor of the Pretoria News was elected as the deputy chairperson.
Martin van Niekerk of Junxion Communications was re-elected as the treasurer and Tanya de Vente,
freelance journalist, was re-elected as the public relations officer.
At the National Press Club’s Annual General Meeting last week, various members were elected to the
executive committee. Hilda Fourie from Beeld was welcomed on the committee. The other
committee members are former chairman Ben Rootman, Phillip Bruwer from Rekord newspaper,
Elizabeth Kruger from the Daily Sun and Patrick Hlahla from Pretoria News.
Co-opted members serving on the committee are Shantall Ramatsui of Denel Dynamics, Reynold
Thakhuli of South African National Parks, Doreen Gough of Unisa and Marisa Engelbrecht of
Solidariteit. In addition, Zelda Venter from the Pretoria News was elected to serve as a co-opted
member on the executive committee.
Abramjee thanked the National Press Club for the confidence they have placed in him by electing him
as chairperson. “The press club has a very important role to play and it’s going to make its mark
again. The new committee will continue to build on the successes that it has made over the years.
The membership is very strong and growing,” he says.
According to Abramjee the club will continue to be a very important networking platform. “One area
of focus is going to be to ensure that we get the newsmakers to use the National Press Club to
interact with the media and the South African public.”

Abramjee served as chairperson of the National Press Club from 2000 until 2003. He was the first
person of colour at the time to be elected chairperson.
Junxion Communications will continue to serve as secretariat of the club.
(Ends)
Released by:
Martin van Niekerk
Secretariat: National Press Club
Tel 012 804 5199
Date: 5 May 2009

The National Press Club has named the Congress of the People (COPE) and ESKOM as
joint Newsmakers of the Year for 2008.
“It was a very tough decision to choose between COPE and ESKOM and therefore the
decision to award a joint newsmaker,” says National Press Club Chairman Patrick Hlahla.
“This award is made annually on the grounds of impact, news value and media attention,
both print and electronic, following nominations received from club members.
“2008 was such a roller-coaster year that we did not always realise what an amazing
news year it was. Nominations like Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, the Scorpions and Julius
Malema certainly had the executive committee of the club thinking. We are, however,
convinced that these two are equally worthy contenders – hence the decision to make a
joint award,” says Hlahla.
ESKOM made news headlines, especially during the first half of 2008, where COPE
dominated news headlines in the second half of the year with the split from the ANC and
the forming of a new political party.
“The beginning of 2008 saw many South Africans come to terms with a term and system
that had a major impact on everyone in the country’s lives – load shedding. People got
stuck in traffic, small businesses suffered mayor financial losses and the sales of candles
and generators escalated.”
According to Monitoring South Africa (MSA) there were 48 320 unique news items on
ESKOM and the power crisis. MSA says media coverage levels of ESKOM went down in
October and November to half of the volume that was recorded in April and May.
“The last few months of 2008 saw an incredible, dramatic and irrevocable change in the
South African political landscape. What has been described by political commentators
as a sure sign of the maturing of South Africa’s democracy, the political party COPE was
established.
“COPE’s national convention, the launch of its logo, the official launch of the party, the
court cases, its stated intentions and the names of prominent people joining the party,
have been reported on both electronic and print media for most of the latter part of last
year,” says Hlahla.
Details of an awards ceremony for COPE and ESKOM will be announced later.
2
The National Press Club has named Newsmakers of the Year for more than twenty years
and previous recipients include President Thabo Mbeki and former Presidents Nelson
Mandela and FW de Klerk, the late Hansie Cronjé, the South African Rand, Zachie
Achmat and the Treatment Action Campaign, Charlize Theron, Jacob Zuma, Helen Zille
and a host of other prominent South Africans.
(Ends)
Issued by: Ben Rootman
Junxion Communications
Tel 012 804 8812 / 082 551 4853
For: Patrick Hlahla
Chairman
National Press Club
Tel 084 274 2817
Date: Thursday, 29 January 2009