Independent Online
Independent Online, popularly known as IOL, is a partially Chinese state-owned news website based in South Africa.[1]
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.[2] IOL regularly distributes Chinese state media content.[3][4][5]
Corporate affairs[edit]
Ownership[edit]
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.[6] China International Television Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).[7] Before 2013, IOL was owned by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media.
At some point, IOL was sold off from Sekunjalo Independent Media while the print publications entity Independent Newspapers remained under the ownership of Sekunjalo Independent Media.[8][9]
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.[10] The PIC had also filed an application asking the court to liquidate Sekunjalo Independent Media.[11][12][13]
Management[edit]
Viasen Soobramoney took over as CEO of Independent Online from Vasantha Angamuthu in May 2023.[14] 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.[15][16] [17] 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.[18][19]
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.[20][21]
