The new owner of The Herald and Daily Dispatch is hosting a celebratory event with refreshments, drinks, and live entertainment on Friday, while employees of these iconic newspapers are still awaiting salary payments.
Celebration and Staff Crisis
The invitation, sent to so-called 'esteemed guests,' invites them to a celebration at 13:00 in Kogompo, formerly known as East London, to mark the official opening of the new Voice Lounge premises and the first anniversary of the online station. However, journalists, photographers, and support staff who create the newspapers have little reason to celebrate.
They have yet to receive their July salaries, which are usually paid on the 25th of the month, forcing many to struggle for shelter and food on the table.
The Buffalo City Contract Issue
The person behind this is Saki Maghele, an entrepreneur from the Eastern Cape with over 20 companies, 14 of which have been deregistered, and a three-year service contract with the Buffalo City municipality. His company, Khumzi Investments, offered the amount of R10,613,278.98 and won the entire tender, despite the municipality announcing a competition for a panel of four agencies and receiving 11 bids. The Buffalo City municipality makes payments to this company.
SA National Editors' Forum reported on Wednesday that newspaper staff had not received their July salaries from Ubuntu Media Holdings, the company through which Maghele acquired the publications. Sanef representatives stated: 'While this dispute continues, it should be noted that affected workers continue to suffer as they find it difficult to pay bills and provide themselves with food.'
Staff Position and Deal Structure
Employees anonymously published an emotional open letter on the Facebook page Be Brave, stating that many of them are not receiving salaries and no one has informed them when the situation will change. The letter notes growing concern that The Herald may not even be able to print this week.
Maghele was not on the board of directors of Ubuntu Media Holdings when the ownership change occurred, but records from the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission show he was appointed director on May 5, 2026, just four days after the transfer of rights took effect. The deal included five publications: Daily Dispatch, The Herald, The Rep, Talk of the Town, and Go! & Express, along with their digital platforms, which collectively comprised the entire Arena Holdings portfolio in the Eastern Cape.
Buffalo City Tender Details
The Herald, first printed on May 7, 1845, and reaching its 180th anniversary last year, is the oldest newspaper in the country, while Daily Dispatch served the town of Kogompo and the wider Eastern Cape for over a century. Both publications are award-winning and cover provincial politics, courts, and councils, including the Buffalo City municipality.
IOL received the terms of reference, bid register, and tender award document for Buffalo City CE 595. On October 13, 2025, the municipality awarded Khumzi Investments a three-year contract for coordinating and managing all municipal travel, accommodation, vehicle rental, and venue hire for conferences, meetings, and seminars. The recommendation was approved two weeks later, on October 27, 2025. The award document gave Khumzi a score of 100 and cited the reason for the award in four words: 'sole responsive bidder.'
The terms of reference, published on April 15, 2025, and closed on May 27, 2025, required a panel of four rotating agencies to maintain a register of the municipality's travel coordinator for even distribution of bookings and revenue among them, emphasizing this twice, the second time in bold. The terms of reference stated: 'It should be noted that service providers will be appointed for rotation to provide these services to the Buffalo City Municipality.' With Khumzi appointed solely, the rotation panel is absent.
The terms of reference also set strict compliance requirements, indicating that only companies that are official members of the International Air Transport Association or the South African Travel Agents Association are accepted, and that participants must provide annual financial reports for the last three years, have at least three consultants with three years of experience available 24/7, and be based within the municipality's jurisdiction. The winning company has no working website, and khumzi.co.za loads an empty server directory, three folder names on a white page, and nothing else.
Tender Disputes
The municipality provided IOL with a different version of the award this week: spokesperson Luzuko Buka stated that 11 bids were received, and two of them failed. Buka said: 'Two bidders were deemed non-responsive, but the reasons for their non-compliance cannot be disclosed without their consent.' He also mentioned a 'Panel of four service providers. Two bidders qualified for appointment, and one of the two bidders declined.'
However, the award document stated that Khumzi was the sole responsive bidder. Buka did not clarify what happened to the other seven bidders. He refused to state the contract value, saying it was a rate-based agreement issued as needed. Buka also declined to disclose the dates of the tender committee meetings, the amount paid to Khumzi to date, the committee's resolution, and the address listed by Khumzi in the application form. He claimed that the municipality conducted due diligence through a three-tiered tender committee system, adhering to procurement policy (SCM).
Management Change and Future Fate
Six months after this award, on April 30, 2026, Arena employees opened an internal memo from group CEO Pule Molebeledi. He announced that 'Arena Holdings has reached a partnership agreement with a private investment group from the Eastern Cape to create a new media structure that will manage, operate, and publish these publications.'
Molebeledi added that this reflects the company's deliberate aim to optimize its portfolio and strengthen strategic focus in the future, allowing the publications to adapt and grow.
The agreement came into effect the next day, May 1, 2026, and Bongani Sikoko, former editor of Daily Dispatch and Sunday Times, became the CEO of Ubuntu Media. The transaction was announced on June 1, 2026, with the buyer described only as an unnamed private group of Eastern Cape shareholders. Three months later, the publications' staff were not receiving salaries. Sanef contacted Ubuntu, and it was pledged that the issue would be resolved and should be soon.
The editorial board noted that journalism suffers when media companies do not pay their employees, and that boardroom disputes should not affect workers. An anonymous employee letter warns that The Herald may face publication difficulties.
