Independent Online
Independent Online, popularly known as IOL, is a partially Chinese state-owned news website based in South Africa.
| Type | News |
|---|---|
| Format | Online newspaper |
| Owner(s) | Sekunjalo Investments Public Investment Corporation China International Television Corporation China Africa Development Fund |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Cape Town, South Africa |
| Website | www |
IOL serves the online versions of a number of South African newspapers, including The Star, Pretoria News, The Daily Voice, Cape Times, Cape Argus, Weekend Argus, The Mercury, Post, Diamond Fields Advertiser, Isolezwe, Daily Tribune, Sunday Tribune, The Independent on Saturday, and The Sunday Independent.[needs update] IOL regularly distributes Chinese state media content.
Corporate affairs
Ownership
Sekunjalo Investments initially owned 55% of the company via its subsidiary Sekunjalo Independent Media, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) owned 25%, and two Chinese state-owned enterprises (China International Television Corporation and the China Africa Development Fund) owned the remaining 20% of the newspaper. China International Television Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV). Before 2013, IOL was owned by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media.[citation needed]
At some point,[when?] IOL was sold off from Sekunjalo Independent Media while the print publications entity Independent Newspapers remained under the ownership of Sekunjalo Independent Media.
The change in ownership structure came at a time when the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) had sued Sekunjalo Independent Media in the Western Cape High Court for failing to repay a loan of ZAR 150 million plus interest in aid of funding the purchase of the company from Tony O'Reilly. The PIC had also filed an application asking the court to liquidate Sekunjalo Independent Media.
Management
Viasen Soobramoney took over as CEO of Independent Online from Vasantha Angamuthu in May 2023. Angamuthu remains CEO of African News Agency.
In 2023, Independent Media issued retrenchment notices to its staff for the fifth time since Sekunjalo's purchase of the news organisation. IOL staff were initially not affected but later added to the list of business units facing job cuts. By October 2023, at least a third of staff were retrenched and the company failed to pay severance packages on time and instead issued grocery vouchers to the value of ZAR 2500 which initially were not loaded with any cash.
At the end of 2023, Group CEO of Independent Media unexpectedly resigned after 16 months in the job prompting Survé to again take up an executive role in the company.
Controversies
Chinese censorship
In 2018, Reporters Without Borders reported that an IOL columnist was forced out after publishing a column condemning the persecution of Uyghurs in China.
Information laundering
According to The Economist, IOL "often engages in 'information laundering' designed to make sentiment appear homegrown, says Herman Wasserman at the University of Cape Town. For instance, it will run a Chinese news-agency story on the biolab conspiracy, then get a left-wing student leader to write an article expressing concern about the supposed biolabs. Chinese news agencies will use that to write about how South Africans are worried, thus manufacturing a 'story' out of nothing at all."
Bank account closures
IOL and Independent Media's banking facilities were threatened in 2022 when Standard Bank issued a notice to cut all ties with any company within the Sekunjalo Group. This followed several other banks refusing to do business with the investment group, its subsidiaries and directors.
Fake news
In 2021, IOL published a series of articles about a Tembisa woman having delivered decuplets (ten babies) which were penned by Pretoria News editor Piet Rampedi. The story was debunked as fake news as no evidence of the births was available and multiple requests for donations were made both in print and online Independent Media platforms. Rampedi, Survé, IOL and Independent Media newspapers all went on to claim that the babies were trafficked but they provided no evidence to support their claims. Rampedi eventually resigned in January 2023 following a report by the Public Protector which found that the story was a lie. Neither Rampedi nor the company or any of its publications apologised for the story, however, the 125-year-old Pretoria News ceased to be published a few months later.
Fictitious journalist
In 2022, IOL was accused of making up a fake journalist called Jamie Roz to spread fake news and disinformation in support of its chairman and controversial businessman Iqbal Survé.
In 2023, veteran journalist Chris Roper found that a series of anonymous articles on IOL were likely written by Survé's spin doctor Feroza Petersen, who together with Sunday Independent editor Sizwe Dlamini had penned many articles in support of Survé.
Further reading
- Dasnois, Alide (2019). Paper Tiger: Iqbal Survé and the downfall of Independent Newspapers. Cape Town: Tafelberg. ISBN 978-0-62408-717-5.
See also
References
External links
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