AIP Staff members

Kate Skinner

Executive Director

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

– Chinese proverb

Learn more about Kate

AIP Board members

Mbali Dhlomo

AIP | Board Chairperson, KwaZulu-Natal

Learn more about Mbali
Mbali Dhlomo registered GENUINE Magazine cc and started operating the business in 1999. Prior to opening her business, she worked for Thandi Magazine and for Ithala Bank in KwaZulu-Natal in the 90s.

She edited and published GENUINE, a quarterly family magazine that circulated in KwaZulu-Natal from 2001 until 2012, when the magazine folded.

Presently, Ms. Dhlomo edits and publishes INTUTHUKO NEWSPAPERS, a group of three monthly IsiZulu community newspapers that were established to serve rural communities of KwaZulu-Natal. Intuthuko Umbumbulu (from 2007) circulates around rural Durban; Intuthuko Newcastle (from 2017) circulates in Newcastle, Dannhauser and Emadlangeni; and Intuthuko Dundee (from 2019) circulates in Dundee, Glencoe Vryheid and Nquthu.

She was nominated for the Technology for Women in Business (TWIB) Awards and was the overall winner in the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) category (2002)

She travelled to the State of Israel and spent a month attending an international course on SMEs in the Era of Globalization (2003)

She was a Board Member at the Association of Independent Publishers (AIP) from 2007 – 2017. She was Chairperson of the AIP from 2014 – 2017. She was re-appointed to the same position from July 2021.

She is a Dwight Eisenhower Fellow and was selected to represent South Africa at the Eisenhower Fellowships Multi-Nation program in the USA (2009).

She is a founding-member of the KwaZulu-Natal Community Publishers’ Co-operative (KZNCPC). She has served as Secretary to the Co-operative and is currently Chairperson of the Co-op.

She sat on the Journalism Advisory Board at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) (2011 – 2014) and holds a Certificate in Community Journalism from UNISA and is currently studying towards a Diploma in Public Relations through UNISA.

Fun Facts about Mbali Dhlomo
1. Do you have any hidden talents or obsessions?
I love baking, but I only know how to bake butter scones for now! I wish to go on a baking course to learn to bake other types of cakes and biscuits.
1. Who is your celebrity crush?
I admire Sir Richard Branson, because his life has been filled with so many ‘dares’. It is shocking and amazing at the same time. His latest ‘dare’ was to travel to the edge of space in his own space craft in 2021. Now there is a person I wish to become one day.
1. Do you collect anything? (Art, shoes, books, etc)
I love second-hand shops! I am unable to pass a second-hand shop and not enter. You always find the best, unique stuff there.
1. If you were given the opportunity to have lunch with the President, what would you say to him?
I would ask him to put more effort into job-creation because people are struggling to make ends meet out there. And then I would ask him to fund the AIP with a once-off amount of R10 million to support grassroots publishers.
1. Everyone has at least one annoying habit, what’s yours?
People get annoyed when I proof-read and correct everything they have written. And it takes me a second to pick up a mistake of any kind. I guess my +22 years in this industry has made me become the (annoying) person that I am!

Octavia Hlungwani

AIP | Board Member, Gauteng

Learn more about Octavia
Octavia Hlungwani is a Director for Khanimambo Vuhluri Pty Ltd. that publishes Phofula Golden Highway Voice, a collection of community newspapers. She is passionate about the sector, empowering upcoming independent publishers, small businesses and providing community-focused news in the areas where her newspapers operate.

Octavia holds a diploma in sales and marketing and a certificate in public relations. She has vast experience in marketing, communications, and human resources. In 2003 she joined Teba Bank and worked as a Community Communication Specialist, which gave her exposure to the mining community where she was able to build relationships between the mine employees and the bank. She was later promoted to Relationship Manager where she continued to build strong relationships for the bank with different stakeholders.

She has been serving on the AIP board for the past two years. Octavia trades as an agency placing adverts with other community newspapers, community radio stations and digital billboards.

Fun Facts About Octavia Hlungwani
1. Do you have any hidden talents or obsessions? Acting
2. Who is your celebrity crush? I don’t have one – I am a celebrity myself!
3. Do you collect anything? (Art, shoes, books, etc)
4. If you were given the opportunity to have lunch with the President, what would you say to him? He needs to implement the Zondo Commission recommendations so that individuals and companies implicated in fraud and corruption face the music. This is the way he will be able to gain the nations trust.
5. Everyone has at least one annoying habit, what’s yours? I’m a perfectionist.

Simon Mboleka

AIP | Board Member, Free State

Learn more about Simon
Simon Mboleka was born and bred in Bloemfontein. He is the publisher of Seipone News Time. He founded the publication in 2007. Mboleka discovered his love for publishing during his time at Media24’s Free State regional office for the Afrikaans newspaper Die Son, were he served for three years. It was then that he started doing his research about publishing and attended courses on entrepreneurship to help him kick-start his newspaper business.

He is passionate about community development. He is committed to empowering the youth of Bloemfontein and surroundings by creating employment in his publication. He shares his knowledge with the youth who have an interest in developing their writing skills and community media.

Regardless of the challenges of his business, Mboleka went against the odds and enrolled for a Bachelor of Management Leadership, a three-year qualification at the University of Free State.

In addition to his achievements and leadership roles, he is currently serving as the Chairperson of the Free State Cooperative and is a respected Reverend at St John Apostolic church of Prophecy.

Fun Facts About Simon Mboleka
1. Do you have any hidden talents or obsessions? I love dancing! I professionally trained on ballroom, foxtrot and tap dance.
2. Who is your celebrity crush? Denzel Washington Jr, I am inspired by his leadership skills in his movies.
3. Do you collect anything? (Art, shoes, books, etc) Inspirational and Business books
4. If you were given the opportunity to have lunch with the President, what would you say to him? Mr President, can you get rid of the incompetent corrupt officials in your employ – even down to the cleaners. They are the one that distribute the envelopes.
5. Everyone has at least one annoying habit, what’s yours? Putting something back on the wrong shelf and last-minute reservations.

Dunisani Ntsanwisi

AIP | Board Member, Limpopo

Learn more about Dunisani
Dunisani Ntsanwisi was born and bred in the village of Malamulele in Limpopo. A qualified media studies practitioner trained from Boston Media House, he started his career at Rainbow FM where he worked as a news compiler for six months. In 2004 he worked as a journalist for a community newspaper called Seipone News which is where he developed his love for community print media. In July 2005 he registered Nhluvuko Media Communication that now publishes the Nthavela newspaper.

The Nthavhela newspaper was started with the key purpose of promoting and publicising the previously marginalised Shangaane/Vatsonga ethnic group. Its aim was to educate the community on economic, political, community development and human-interest issues in the language they understood and appreciated.

His success has been recognized with a number of awards including the 2011 finalist in the Pan South Africa Language Board (PANSALB) category, “Publication that seeks to promote African languages”, the MDDA & Sanlam award in the category “Emerging newspaper 3-5 years old” and the 2013 Mopani South African Football Association (SAFA) award for comprehensive sports coverage.

In 2014 Nthavela was part of the Adopt a Youth Entrepreneur Campaign. In 2015 the newspaper was a finalist in the MDDA/SANLAM awards in the category “Best newspaper indigenous language”. In 2015 the newspaper won the Gender Links awards in the category for “Center of Excellence”.

Fun Facts About Dunisani Ntsanwisi
1. Do you have any hidden talents or obsessions? Cooking.
2. Who is your celebrity crush? Most of my celebrity crushes disappointed me in one way or another.
3. Do you collect anything? (Art, shoes, books, etc) Political, history and inspirational books.
4. If you were given an opportunity to have lunch with the President, what would you say to him? He must fully fulfil what he has promised the people and be realistic when he is setting his targets. His targets must be achievable.
5. Everyone has at least one annoying habit, what’s yours? I’m not sure but I know I dislike people that lie.

Andrew Mokhwae

AIP | Board Member, Northwest

Learn more about Andrew
Andrew started his career in print media as a freelance columnist for the Mafikeng Mail newspaper and continued to serve as a freelance journalist for both the Sowetan and City Press newspapers. He was appointed as the editor of the then successful Mafikeng-based newspaper, News Independent. He was promoted to managing editor within six months.

Mokhwae graduated with a diploma in Public Relations Management from the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA), a diploma in Business Administration from AoL College, a National Certificate in Quality Management Systems and a National Certificate in Multimedia from the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ). He is currently a managing editor and owner of the North-Western Times cc, which publishes the Kuruman Chronicle, Kagisano-Molopo News and Platinum Press newspapers.

Fun Facts About Andrew Mokhwae
1. Do you have any hidden talents or obsessions? My hidden talents are night deejaying, boxing, business consulting and voice coaching for singers. I have grade 6 in music with the Trinity College of Music in London, specializing in voice.
2. Who is your celebrity crush? Sindi Dlathu, a South African actress
3. Do you collect anything? (Art, shoes, books, etc)
4. If you were given the opportunity to have lunch with the President, what would you say to him? I would ask the President why he said in the preamble to the constitution, “South Africa belongs to all who live in it”.
5. Everyone has at least one annoying habit, what’s yours? I’m not sure.

Thembisa Mjiba

AIP | Board Member, Eastern Cape

Learn more about Thembisa
Thembisa Mjiba is a community journalist, entrepreneur and an academic. She is the founder and editor of iDikelethu Community Newspaper based in Alice. She holds an Honours degree in Social Science, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, an advanced diploma in communication and several certificates which were obtained from various institutions. She is currently doing her Masters Degree in Communications at the University of Fort Hare.

Thembisa, worked in various media companies which include the SABC, the former Radio Transkei, Grocotts Mail, The Rap and the Sunday Sun newspaper.

iDikelethu was established in 2007 after extensive research was done with the community in terms of their needs.

She credits her passion for print media to Dr. Beekman who assigned her to be editor and project leader for the students’ peer newsletter during her university days. Since then, her love for the printed newspaper never stopped until she published her first copy.

She represents Eastern Cape publishers in the executive committee of the cooperative. She also spoke at the Parliamentary Indaba for Diversity and Transformation of Print Media Indaba in 2011, and in 2015 she was amongst a group of South African journalists selected to go on a study tour to Germany to learn about innovative tools and mechanisms for communication.

Thembisa is also part of the Travel & Tourism Hospitality project, called “Homestay owners of Alice” where house owners in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality (RMLM) open their homes to tourists when there is a need for accommodation in the area.

Despite the challenges around sustainability issues, iDikelethu has been a source of income to the community by creating employment. It has opened its doors to journalism students from previously disadvantaged communities to do internships and work experience programmes.

Fun Facts About Thembisa Mjiba-Makasi
1. Do you have any hidden talents or obsessions? I am obsessed with sports. I love soccer, tennis and netball. I am currently managing a netball team based in Alice.
2. Who is your celebrity crush? I don’t have one but I’m inspired by Khanyi Dhlomo, Felicia Mabuza & Noxolo Grootboom.
3. Do you collect anything? (Art, shoes, books, etc) Yes, I am collecting books but haven’t had enough time to read lately.
4. If you were given the opportunity to have lunch with the President what would you say to him? I would ask the honourable President to give the community media sector the much-needed support it deserves.
5. Everyone has at least one annoying habit, what’s yours? I always want to assist even when I know I am over-committed. I need to learn to say no. Also, maybe delegate more often.

Mduduzi Wilfred Nkosi

AIP | Board Member, Mpumalanga

Learn more about Mduduzi
Mduduzi Nkosi was born and raised in Schoemansdal, one of the 54 villages in Nkomazi. He developed a lasting love for news and got involved in 2003, despite the fact that his parents felt that nothing good would come of it.

He was invited to be a part of Tembalethu Home Based acre which supported underprivileged young people doing activities such as dancing and acting. While there, Nkomazi Voice was developed as a community newspaper to raise funds and to aid the activities of the centre including ensuring that resources were made available to the youth of Schoemansdal. Mduduzi became part of the delivery and sales team. Also, he went out with the journalists to search for stories and that is where his passion for news and writing was nurtured. He became one of the journalists and assisted the newspaper to grow into a fully-fledged operation for all of Nkomazi.

In 2007, five of the people who were at Nkomazi Voice, including Mduduzi, decided to develop their own newspaper, Nkomazi Observer. As time passed the original team left to pursue their own ventures but Mduduzi remained as he had grown to love the newspaper business. More recently he has been encouraging a friend to write while he pursues publishing.

In his journey with the newspaper, Mduduzi has become active in committees such as the Mpumalanga Community Newspapers Cooperative and AIP in Mpumalanga, which has broadened his understanding of the media industry, especially community print media. He would like to ensure that print media, even though things have evolved, remains significant for all.

Fun Facts about Mduduzi Wilfred Nkosi
1. Do you have any hidden talents or obsessions? I am good at glass fitting. It is one of the things I had to learn to give me a livelihood. I come from a poor background. This is a skill I love and do with ease.
1. Who is your celebrity crush? My wife would kill me if she ever found out I had a celebrity crush… However, she is a well-known community radio presenter, so she is my crush.
1. Do you collect anything? (Art, shoes, books, etc.) I am not a collector but I sometimes I will find a book that I love. I do read.
1. If you were given the opportunity to have lunch with the President, what would you say to him? I would ask why he has allowed print media to die without showing support. Community media operations are SMMEs – he is supposed to be supporting SMMEs
1. Everyone has at least one annoying habit, what is yours? I know it is a bad habit but I can’t help promising to assist and then failing to do it.

James Nkosi

AIP | Board Member, KwaZulu-Natal

Learn more about James
James Jabulani Nkosi is a founder publisher of isiBani Sommphakathi newspaper. He is the executive director of isiBani Media Group and has a communications qualification from Wits University. He was the first publisher in South Africa to be given grant funding from the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) under its founding director, Ms. Libby Lloyd. He was part of the negotiations for the formation of the MDDA.

James was the first African male to start a Zulu newspaper in KZN with the late Mr Lushaba (who founded Taxi Newspaper), Ms Sheila Mhlongo (KZN Newspaper) and Ms Mbali Dhlomo (now Publisher of Intuthuko but then editor of Genuine Magazine).

James was part of the delegation that brought our first democratically elected President, Nelson Mandela to Daggakraal in Mpumalanga. Our first Premier of Mpumalanga, Mathews Phosa was also present. Also, he was part of the media delegation assigned to cover the historical event of President Mandela being given the Freedom of Durban by then Mayor Mr Obed Mlaba.

James is a poet and a founder member of Umbengo Reading and Writing club. He is passionate about the media and has over two and half decades of experience. He has been a journalist for the Sunday Tribune in Durban and has freelanced with Soweto News, which later became the Sowetan newspaper. James is a long-term member and supporter of the AIP.

Fun Facts About James Nkosi
1. Do you have any hidden talents or obsessions? I’m a poet and writer.
1. Who is your celebrity crush? Zingiswa Losi, Cosatu’s female president.
1. Do you collect anything? (Art, shoes, books, etc) Books especially on poetry and history.
1. If you were given the opportunity to have lunch with the President what would you say to him? Please explain the Phala Phala game farm saga. Also, please explain your stance and position on the Russia/Ukraine war.
1. Everyone has at least one annoying habit, what’s yours? Snoring!