South Africa's Earliest Newspapers

Brief info
● It's name was Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser
● Founded by two slave dealers, Alexander Walker and John Robertson in 1800, with 2
Scotsmen Thomas Pringle and John Fairbairn, as well as George Greig acting as the
paper's publisher
● Initially used to provide info for the European community in Cape Town, which at the
time, was a British colony
Censorship by the Bri'ish
● Cape Town's then governor, Charles Somerset suppressed the paper via bans
● Pringle published information about a libel case in March 1824 against Cape solicitor
William Edwards, who accused the Governor of abusing his authority
● Greig was also required by the autocratic Somerset to give the Fiscal a deposit of
10,000 Rix Dollars as insurance in case he published anything unfavourable, this
would lead to Pringle's resignation
● George Greig then travelled to England to obtain permission to publish free from
governmental restrictions, lifting the paper's ban on 31/8/1825
Decline
● After Fairbairn's death in 1864, Mr. John Noble, whose brother Professor Roderick
Noble acted as editor, took over the paper
● Fierce emergence of one the paper's many rivals, the Cape Argus as it began
surpassing the Commercial Advertiser and Mail as the predominant newspaper of the
area
● Again, the paper was passed down to another person, this time by the name of Van
de Sandt, de Villiers & Co. with R.W Murray acting as the editor
● The Cape Standard and Mail became the paper's final name after the new
proprietors oversaw a further merger with the Cape Standard in September 1869 in
an effort to revive the faltering publication
● And guess what, THEY FAILED! So the paper shut down in 1879
What is the paper famous for?
● Being the first bilingual newspaper in Africa, with the 2 languages used being Dutch
and English
● A platform for the change of ideas and opinions
● One of the primary sources of information the public relied on for notices and events
Impacts
● Advocated for social and political change as it discussed on issues like slavery and
inequality, which led to raised awareness and eventually change
● Provided job opportunities for writers, editors and publishers, which contributed to
journalism as a legitimate profession in South Africa
● Led opposition against the Anti-Convict movement and demanded a democratically
accountable government, this led to John Fairbairn being hailed by John Molteno as
the Cape Town's father of representative government and freedom of press there

Summary
 Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser was one of South Africa’s earliest newspapers,
founded by 2 slave dealers in 1800 this newspaper primarily serves as a platform for the
share of news and advertisements primarily for the white community in Cape Town. Though
it had many troubles such as it being banned during its initial phases of release, as well as
being forced to change editors every now and then, this paper was a great contributor for
South Africa’s advocacy for sociopolitical change.

Question
What was the paper’s last name?
1. Cape Argus
2. Government Gazette
3. The Cape Standard and Mail
4. Sun Mail
Ans: 3