Paper Tiger

The journalists of South Africa’s biggest newspaper firm, which counted ‘The Star’, ‘Cape Times’ and ‘The Mercury’ among its titles, were optimistic that new, local ownership would mark an end to the callous management of its Irish overlords of the previous two decades. But the day after Nelson Mandela died, a storm engulfed the group when Survé fired ‘Cape Times’ editor Alide Dasnois amid accusations of disrespect towards Mandela although many pointed to a ‘Cape Times’ story about one of his companies as the real reason for his ire. In the dramatic days that followed, Independent’s newsrooms across the country were torn apart by suspicion, recriminations and what many of the journalists believed was a witch hunt to expel those not prepared to toady to Survé. Now Dasnois and Chris Whitfield, who was head of the Cape papers at the time of the ownership change, tell the inside story of the Survé reign.