''Weg!'' (literal English translation: ''Away!''; title of English-language version: ''Go!'') is an

Afrikaans language Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch dialects, Dutch vernacular of Holland, Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German set ...

outdoor and

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

. It was first published in April 2004 and is owned by the

Media24 Media24 is the print media division of the South African media company Naspers. It controls Naspers' newspaper and magazine Southern African publishing and printing activities, including Internet publishing of the 24.com collection of web portal ...

division of

Naspers Naspers Limited is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town, with interests in online retail, publishing and venture capital investment. Naspers' principal shareholder is its ...

. The magazine focuses on affordable destinations in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the rest of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. In addition to travel articles, the magazine also contains

photographic Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed i ...

portfolios focusing on nature and

recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. His ...

s, as well as

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and outdoor equipment reviews. The original name of the magazine was ''Wegbreek'' (Break Away), but it was forced to change its name after a court case with Ramsay, Son & Parker, the publishers of the rival '' Getaway'' magazine. In February 2006, the magazine achieved a circulation of 77,174 (as audited by the

Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

), making it the largest outdoor and

travel magazine Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

in any language in South Africa. This position was consolidated by the launch of its

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

sister magazine, ''Go!'' in June of the same year, which resulted in a combined circulation figure of 113,248 by November 2006. In December 2006, ''WegSleep'' (Tow Away), a former caravanning and camping supplement, was launched as an independent magazine. The founding editor of the magazine was Bun Booyens. He was succeeded by Barnie Louw from 2010–2013, with Pierre Steyn taking over the reins as editor early in 2014. In 2011, ''Weg!'' produced its first stand-alone travel map of the

Baviaanskloof Baviaanskloof Mega Reserve is a protected area in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Characteristics The Baviaanskloof - (Dutch for "Valley of Baboons") - lies between the Baviaanskloof Range, Baviaanskloof and Kouga Range, Kouga mountain ...

by in-house cartographer François Haasbroek. Since then, the magazine has published detailed travel maps of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and the

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...

Awards

The magazine has received several awards, including: * At the 2006 Magazine Publishers' Association of South Africa's

Sappi Sappi Limited, originally incorporated as ''South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited'' in 1936, is a South African pulp and paper company with global operations. Products and operation South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limite ...

Pica Awards: ** The inaugural Jane Raphaely Award for Editor of the Year to Booyens. ** The best magazine in the Travel, Wildlife and Conservation category. ** The best supplement, for WegSleep. * In both 2005 and 2006, travel editor and columnist

Dana Snyman Dana Snyman is a South African journalist, writer and playwright. Snyman was born in Stellenbosch and matriculated from Nylstroom High School. He later followed a journalism course at the Pretoria Technikon before joining the Afrikaans newspap ...

won the "ATKVeertjie" award from the ''Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging'' (Afrikaans Language and Cultural Society) for magazine journalism. * At the 2006 ADvantage awards of the South African magazine industry: ** Best overall magazine. ** Magazine editor of the year. ** Best magazine in the leisure category.

References

External links

''Weg'' Magazine official website

''go!'' Magazine Website

Data on circulation figures
2004 establishments in South Africa Afrikaans-language magazines Magazines published in South Africa Tourism magazines Magazines established in 2004 {{Media24