SHORT HISTORY OF ‘TIMES OF SWAZILAND’

Douglas Loffler, a man referred to as ‘the father of modern Swazi journalism’ by his admirers has died aged 70.

A memorial service for him was held last Friday (7 March 2008).

There is very little written or easily available about the history of media in Swaziland, so Loffler’s death gives us an opportunity to try to piece together at least some of the more recent history.

Loffler owned the group of newspapers that publishes the Times of Swaziland (published Monday to Friday) and its companion papers the Swazi News (Saturday) and the Times Sunday.

These extracts from an obituary published in the Times on 6 March 2008 fill in some of the details.

‘Douglas Loffler, aged 70, died on 25 February 2008 in Cape Town of heart failure.

‘He was managing director of the Times of Swaziland for over 30 years and has been referred to as the father of modern Swazi journalism.

‘When Douglas bought the Times of Swaziland from the Argus Group in 1975 it was a thin weekly paper. Over the years he developed the paper, transforming t into a daily appear and later bringing out weekend editions – the Swazi News and [the Times Sunday]. He was determined to publish a vernacular edition of the paper and added Tikhatsi and Tikhatsi Ngelisontfo (a siSwati version of the Times Sunday) to the stable of Times publications.

‘Douglas’ career in the newspaper industry started with him selling advertising for Thompson Newspapers in England. Hs employers appointed him to sell advertising for the African Daily News in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and he headed off for Africa. When his publication was banned by the Rhodesian government he moved to Malawi where he worked as advertising manager of the Malawi News.

‘In 1971 Douglas and his family moved to Swaziland where he established a monthly business magazine, Business in Swaziland. When the Times of Swaziland was put up for sale several years later he grasped the opportunity.

‘At the time the paper had one employee, one chair and one desk. When he died, the Times of Swaziland employed over 140 people.

‘Douglas had every faith in Swazis being able to run their own affairs but was not about to keep quiet when people took advantage of their powerful positions to do wrong. He took a lot of flak for this, and despite the personal cost to his health, was always proud that he stood up for the Swazi people.’

See also
HISTORY OF SWAZI LANGUAGE PRESS