Times Media Group has announced that Phylicia Oppelt is stepping down as editor of South Africa’s largest-circulation newspaper, the Sunday Times.
She is being replaced by Daily Dispatch editor Bongani Siqoko.
Siqoko has been with the Daily Dispatch since November 2004 and held many positions at the newspaper, including news editor, managing editor and deputy editor prior to his appointment as editor in June 2013, Times Media said. He holds a master’s in international journalism from City University London.
Oppelt has accepted a senior position within the media group as GM for editorial projects, where she will be involved in a project to redesign the group’s newspapers and prepare them for a “digital first” publishing environment.
Times Media said it has implemented a new editorial system that works across all publishing platforms. It intends moving to new offices that will include a “world-class newsroom”.
Meanwhile, the group’s news wire service, RDM News Wire, which was launched earlier this year following the demise of the South African Press Association, is being closed down.
“We have decided that the benefits of having exclusive content for our websites outweigh those that result from selling the service publicly,” the group said in an e-mail to publishers on Tuesday.
From 1 December, the wire will be rebranded and will focus exclusively on serving internal Times Media Web products with news, business and sports copy, it said. — © 2015 NewsCentral Media