Profile of Spaza Media

Based in Johannesburg, Spaza Media – the publisher and owner of Spaza News - is a Johannesburg-based company with strong experience in publishing for markets similar to the spaza shop market. The directors of the Spaza News have been involved in the publishing field for over 30 years, publishing newsletters, advertisements, and other media. They have worked in government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as in the private sector.

Through its sister company, Rirhandzu Communications, Spaza Media brings significant experience in the areas of journalism, media management, design, publishing and distribution.

Spaza Media is a niche publisher and Spaza News is the first title in this category. Spaza Media will be launching other titles in the not-so-distant future.

Individual profiles of the directors
Spaza News is owned by Spaza Media, whose two directors – Noel Ndhlovu and Sylise Petersen - are intimately involved in the daily running of the publication.

Noel Ndhlovu has worked as a journalist for the mainstream press (The Star) and the alternative press, (Learn and Teach). He also held senior communications positions at the South African Revenue Service, the National Housing Finance Corporation and the Office of the Premier in Gauteng, where he served former Gauteng Premiers, Tokyo Sexwale and Mathole Motshekga. A winner of the Fulbright Scholarship, he holds degrees in journalism and media management from Rhodes University, the University of Missouri in the United States, as well as a Certificate in Media Training from Boston University. Noel has also contributed a chapter to a book edited by Dr Mamphele Ramphele titled Restoring the Land: Environment and Change in Post Apartheid South Africa (published by the Panos Institute, London, 1991).

Sylise Petersen has extensive experience in strategic communications and media management. She has served as a media manager in the Office of the Premier, Gauteng for five years. After winning a Career Development Scholarship to Duke University in North Carolina, USA, she pursued a career in journalism working for Upbeat, a now defunct magazine aimed at teenagers, as well as M-Net’s award winning current affairs program Carte Blanche. Her career started as a high school teacher in the townships of Westbury, Kliptown and Eldorado Park, where she also contributed to community based initiatives including leadership programmes for high school learners, fund raising, skills development programmes and literacy training for former ‘street kids’. Sylise holds a degree in Communications and Sociology from UNISA and a diploma in teaching from the Rand College of Education.