Chronology
This chronology is indicative only.
It covers -
- antecedents (1857)
- Rand Daily Mail (1902)
- the Express (1934)
- Financial Mail (1951)
- TML (1987)
- after Apartheid (1994)
Context is provided by the broader communications and media timeline on this site.
Antecedents
1652 Jan Van Riebeeck arrives in the Cape
1814 Cape becomes crown colony of Great Britain
1834 Boers move inland and start the Great Trek
1854 contract of Bloemfontein, foundation of Orange Free State
1857 launch of The Cape Argus
1866 establishment of The Argus Printing & Publishing Company
1889 establishment of Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company (JCI)
1902 Boer Republics became British Crown Colonies
1902 William Gindra and Edward Green establish Caxton printery in Pretoria
1910 establishment of the Union of South Africa
Rand Daily Mail
1902 Rand Daily Mail launched by Harry Freeman Cohen
1904 Rand Daily Mail taken over by Abe Bailey
1906 launch of Johannesburg Sunday Times
1910 Argus, the Rand Daily Mail and Cape Times form partnership with Reuters to establish local agency
1917 Anglo American Corporation founded by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer
1926 Anglo American becomes largest single shareholder in De Beers
The Express
1934 Sunday Express launched by Arthur Barlow
1935 Sunday Express acquired by I. W. Schlesinger
1935 Schlesinger relaunches Sunday Express in Johannesburg
1935 Schlesinger launches Sunday Tribune in Durban
1937 launches daily Express and Tribune
1939 Argus, Rand Daily Mail and Sunday Times buy Schlesinger's operations (Sunday Times gains Sunday Express, Argus gains Sunday Tribune and Daily Express)
1939 Sunday Express acquired by Rand Daily Mail
1939 establishment of South African Press Association
1947 Caxton Ltd goes public
1948 National Party wins election
1950 Population Registration Act
Financial Mail
1951 African Drum founded by Jim Bailey
1953 Public Safety Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act
1959 Financial Mail launched by South African Associated Newspapers (40%) and UK Financial Times (50%)
1960 Sharpeville Massacre
1960 Imvo Zabantsundu (est 1884) acquired by Perskor
1961 Caxton acquires The South African Jewish Times, its first newspaper
1961 Anglo American buys stake in Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Company
1964 Sunday Express Ltd and Argus form 50/50 arrangement to publish new Sunday Chronicle
1965 establishment of South African Associated Newspapers (SAAN), inc Rand Daily Mail and Sunday Express
1966 Sunday Times launches Business Times
1967 Anglo American establishes timber, pulp and paper Mondi Group
1968 Caxton acquired by Felix Stark of Felstar Publications, launches The Germiston Eagle as prototype community newspaper
1971 launches monthly free Blackheath Times, later launched Sandton Chronicle, North Eastern Tribune, Northcliff and Blackheath Times, Randburg Sun, Southern Courier, Mayfair-Brixton, Newlands-Melville Telegraph, Rosebank Killarney Gazette and the Roodepoort Record
1971 Afrikaans Sundays Die Beeld (Nasionale Pers) and Dagbreek (Perskor) merge as jointly-owned Rapport
1974 SAAN buys Financial Times stake for R180,000
1976 English language daily tabloid daily The Citizen launched by Louis Luyt with funds from South African government, subsequently sold to Perskor
1976 Soweto Uprising
1978 Terrence Moolman and Noel Coburn buy stake in Caxton
1978 Argus launches Post Transvaal
1979 agreement with Argus Group over printing operations
1984 Argus launches Sunday Star
1985 reverse take-over of CTP (Cape and Transvaal Printers)
1985 SAAN closes Rand Daily Mail and Sunday Express
1987 Caxton buys KNL Web Printers in Isando from Nasionale Pers and Barlows
1987 buys Solchem, largest SA supplier of newspaper ink
1987 Caxton and Argus Newspaper Group joint venture - Newspaper Marketing Bureau (NMB) - to market print media to national advertisers
TML
1987 South African Associated Newspapers formally changes name to Times Media Ltd (TML)
1988 Caxton buys Horters Ltd printing and packaging group
1993 Anglo American and Minorco exit from Charter Consolidated
After Apartheid
1994 election of ANC government
1994 31% of Argus Group acquired by Tony O’Reilly's INM from Anglo American, becomes Independent Newspapers Holdings Ltd (INHL)
1995 Caxton unwinds links with Argus Group
1995 INHL and Caxton dissolve NMB partnership
1995 JCI becomes Johnnies Industrial Corporation Limited when Anglo American Corporation splits JCI interests into JCI (gold), Amplats (platinum) and Johnnic (industrial and media)
1995 Caxton / CTP restructured under CTP banner and forms partnership with National Empowerment Consortium (NEC)
1996 NEC buys 35% of Johnnic, which in turn owns 43% of Omni Media Corporation (which has 92% of TML)
1997 INHL sells 42.5% stake in The Sowetan for R62m
1997 TML sells 50% of BDFM (Business Day, Financial Mail and African Business Channel) to Pearson
1998 merger of Caxton and Perskor
1998 Anglo American merges with Minorco to form Anglo American plc
1998 TML and New Africa Publications launch Sunday World
1999 Caxton Perskor sells City Press and Rapport stake to Naspers
1999 INHL buys out minority shareholders in Argus
1999 TML launches and folds Sportsday
1999 TML sells 30% of Daily Dispatch to black empowerment consortium Isivuno for R15m
2001 TML becomes Johnnic Publishing
2001 Anglo American unwinds cross-holding with De Beers