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Monday, February 28, 2005 - Web posted at 10:47:44 GMT Southern Times off to slow start LINDSAY DENTLINGERTHE sale of Namibia's joint-venture newspaper with Zimbabwe, The Southern Times, is off to a slow start with fewer than 20 000 newspapers sold during its first two months in circulation. |
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Namibia's main newspapers sell this number of papers daily. The Southern Times got off the ground through a partnership agreement between Government's New Era and Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers) in September. Minister of Information and Broadcasting Nangolo Mbumba was however upbeat in the National Assembly on Thursday, maintaining that the publication was "gaining momentum" and "acceptability" in the region as it was telling "stories from a Southern African regional perspective". "It is imperative to point out that since The Southern Times only started its operations in September 2004, it would be inappropriate to judge its performance in a time frame of six months," Mbumba was quick to point out, maintaining that it would become a "force to be reckoned with" in the near future. He revealed information regarding the operations of the New Era and The Southern Times at the request of the DTA's Johan de Waal. Mbumba told parliamentarians that New Era, as 50 per cent shareholders in the joint venture Namzim Newspapers Pty Ltd, had contributed N$1 million, while Zimpapers had pumped in N$1,4 million. Mbumba was quick to point out that New Era's contribution had not come from State funding, but from external sources of income. To date, approximately N$600 000 of New Era's contribution has been spent. He said New Era did not plan to invest any further capital in the project for the next three years, as the joint-venture company was expected to generate its own income. He said there were plans to invite other investors to join Namzim Newspapers. Mbumba said a comprehensive income statement and other financial documentation of the operational expenses and income from all SADC member states where The Southern Times is sold, was being prepared for presentation to the board at their next meeting in May. He gave the assurance that if this was being done outside regular working hours, using their own resources, then they would be compensated. Mbumba further added that New Era journalists could not expect to be paid overtime, given the nature of news operations. He said journalists had to get out of the "eight-to-five job mentality" and said the paper was offering its journalists a monthly incentive of an additional N$1 000. |
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