Home-grown journalist gets top job

BRINGING with her a wealth of media experience, politics editor Nwabisa Makunga has been appointed deputy editor of both The Herald and its sister publication Weekend Post.

Announcing Makunga’s appointment yesterday, The Herald and Weekend Post editor Brett Horner acknowledged Makunga’s contributions to both Times Media Group publications and its multimedia platforms.

“Nwabisa’s knowledge of the papers, the staff and readers is invaluable and was earned over the years as she worked her way up from rookie reporter to politics editor,” Horner said.

“She is a sharp thinker, a hard worker and deserves this opportunity.

“I have no doubt about her immense talent and, together as a team, we will look to shape The Herald and Weekend Post for a new, digital world.

“I congratulate her and look forward to her contributions.”

Juggling the dual demands of family and work, which include raising a seven-year-old son, Makunga, 34, has headed the political desk for the two leading Nelson Mandela Bay publications for the past six years.

The home-grown journalist was born in Uitenhage, but also experienced life in various parts of the Eastern Cape, having lived in areas such as the small town of Alice and, later, Motherwell in Port Elizabeth.

She studied journalism at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and is currently a student of the Wits University Media Management programme.

Makunga first joined The Herald as an intern in 2004 and was later appointed to the company’s Garden Route Bureau in Knysna.

Following a stint at the bureau, she relocated to Johannesburg as part of the then Pearson/Johncom postgraduate journalism programme.

“In 2006, I returned to Port Elizabeth and was appointed news editor the following year,” she said.

“In 2009, I was offered the news editor post at Business Day and moved to Johannesburg again, but returned to Nelson Mandela Bay when the politics and business editor vacancy opened up at The Herald in 2011.”

Passionate about politics and “our developing economy”, Makunga is equally enthusiastic “about telling what I believe is a complex African story, often undermined”.

She said: “I have led The Herald’s coverage of the Bay’s political landscape in the last six years and it has been an absolute honour to tell the powerful story which has placed this city at the forefront of the national political agenda.”

Makunga was named a Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber Top40 Under-40 achiever in 2013.

Having covered major national political events such as the ANC’s Mangaung conference in 2012, among others, Makunga was also part of the team behind the trailblazing Herald/NMMU Community Dialogues series hosted across the Bay last year.

“I am grateful for this opportunity and I am honoured to work with talented men and women who are committed to telling the stories of our beautiful city, our province and our country,” Makunga said.