The South African Press Association (SAPA) was the national
news agency
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency may ...
of
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 ...
until its closure in 2015.
History
The agency was established on 1 July 1938
by major South African newspapers to facilitate the sharing of news.
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
had dominated the internal supply of news in South Africa until 1938. When SAPA was founded, Reuters retained the exclusive right to supply it with world news. Reuters ended this partnership in 1995, when it began expanding its own Southern African activities in competition with SAPA.
In February 1938, the constitution for the new agency was framed, and by April that year, it became a co-operative news agency under the control of every
British and
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
newspaper that wished to join.
During the
apartheid era
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
, the agency was criticised by the ruling
National Party for inadequate reporting of the government's viewpoint and
Afrikaner
Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...
culture.
From 1964 to 1981, SAPA owned a subsidiary in the Inter-Africa News Agency (IANA) in neighbouring
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
(later
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
), which was later taken over by the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust.
The non-governmental agency continued to function under the ownership of South African newspapers.
SAPA was the major news supplier of foreign and domestic news to South Africa, providing all forms of media – newspapers, television, radio and web-based – with news, videos and photographs.
Its newswire provided a constant feed of news to newsrooms in South Africa. The agency also maintained a picture and news video service and press release service called link2media.
Traditionally, SAPA relied on its regional newspaper members for regional South African news, in addition to reporting by its own staff.
Its head office was in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
, and it had bureaus in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
,
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
,
Bloemfontein and
Pretoria
Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa.
Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
.
Its primary area of distribution was in South Africa, although it did have clients abroad as well as exchange agreements with other major news agencies.
Closure
SAPA ceased operations on March 31, 2015 after its assets were liquidated. Three companies – Gallo Images, KMM Review Publishers, and Sekunjalo Investments Holdings – expressed an interest in setting up an operation on similar lines as the agency, which is a special category of non-profit that may not be sold.
Notable journalists
*
Eric Lloyd Williams
Eric Lloyd Williams (1915–1988) was a South African-born journalist and war correspondent who covered World War II for the South African Press Association and Reuters.
Lloyd Williams reported on the North African campaign of the British Eighth ...
, war correspondent,
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
See also
*
Media of South Africa
The mass media in South Africa has a large mass media sector and is one of Africa's major media centres. While South Africa's many broadcasters and publications reflect the diversity of the population as a whole, the most commonly used language i ...
*
Communications in South Africa
Telecommunications infrastructure in South Africa provides modern and efficient service to urban areas, including cellular and internet services. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is the watchdog of the telecommu ...
References
External links
South African Press Association webline loginSouth African Press Association websiteSapa Picture Servicelink2media Press Release Service
{{Authority control
1938 establishments in South Africa
News agencies based in South Africa
Publishing companies established in 1938