''Beeld'' (freely translated as ''Picture'' or ''Image'') is an

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

-language

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

that was launched on 16 September 1974. ''Beeld'' is distributed in four

provinces of South Africa South Africa is divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 South African general election, 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, known as Bantustans, were reintegrated into the country, and the four provinces were incr ...

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

and North West, previously part of the former

Transvaal province The Province of Transvaal (), commonly referred to as the Transvaal (; ), was a province of South Africa from 1910 until 1994, when a new constitution subdivided it following the end of apartheid. The name "Transvaal" refers to the province's ...

. ''Die Beeld'' (English: ''The Image'') was an Afrikaans-language Sunday newspaper in the late 1960s.

History

The newspaper was aligned with the National Party and

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

policies.Beeld’s new editor of `iron’
''The Mail & Guardian''. 16 August 1996 In later years, the newspaper was seen to be more aligned with the Democratic Party. In April 1981, Joseph Lelyveld of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' praised Beeld editor Ton Vosloo over a "courageous" article he had recently written. Vosloo had written that the National Party would eventually have to enter negotiations with the leadership of the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

. Significantly, Ton described the ANC as "the National Party of Black Nationalism."Lelyveld, Joseph (19 April 1981)
Anxiety Over Apartheid
''The New York Times Magazine''. Retrieved on 9 February 2025 In July 1981, the newspaper took issue with

Piet Koornhof Pieter G. J. Koornhof, (2 August 1925 – 12 November 2007) was a South African politician. As an apartheid-era National Party cabinet minister, he held various portfolios in the cabinets of B.J. Vorster and P.W. Botha. He was regard ...

, minister responsible for black affairs in P.W. Botha's cabinet. Koornhof had reassured the white electorate that racially desegregated public spaces in white areas would not be "swamped" or "crowded out". He suggested racially segregated bridges and keeping facilities open to all races on weekdays and racially segregated on weekends, for the exclusive use of whites. The newspaper accused Koornhof of resurrecting "prehistoric debates" of the early apartheid era and questioned how the white minority can gain the support of nonwhites "if in 1981 we speak of separate bridges a la 1948." In a January 1982 editorial by Vosloo, prior to the opening of parliament, he called on Prime Minister P.W. Botha for political change: "We are waiting, Mr. Botha, we are waiting!" In June 2024

Naspers Naspers Limited (until 1998 Die Nasionale Pers) is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town. The company has interests in online retail, publishing, real estate, and ventu ...

announced that it would close the newspaper, along with '' City Press,'' ''Rapport'', and the ''Daily Sun'', in October of that year due to declining newspaper sales. A month later Media24 announced it will suspend the planned closures until the

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

approves of its plan to sell newspaper distribution company On-The-Dot to Novus, which was the reason behind the papers' planned shuttering. The last print edition was published on Friday 21 December 2024, and it is now available online only.

List of editors

* Schalk Pienaar (1974–1975) * Johannes Grosskopf (1975–1977) * Ton Vosloo (1977–1983) * Willem Wepener (1983–1989) * Salie de Swardt (1989–1992) * Willie Kühn (1993–1996) * Johan de Wet (1996–1999) * Arrie Rossouw (1999–2000) * Peet Kruger (2000–2009) * Tim du Plessis (2009–2011) * Peet Kruger (2011–2013) *

Adriaan Basson Adriaan Jurgens Basson is a South African journalist who has been the editor-in-chief of News24 since April 2016. Known for his investigative journalism, he was formerly the editor of Netwerk24 and '' Beeld''. Career After matriculati ...

(2013–2015) * Barnard Beukman (2015–2024)

Distribution areas

Distribution figures

Readership figures

References

External links

* Afrikaner culture in Johannesburg Daily newspapers published in South Africa Afrikaans-language newspapers Mass media in Johannesburg 1974 establishments in South Africa Newspapers established in 1974 {{SouthAfrica-newspaper-stub