The smell of fresh ink on newsprint shouldn’t feel like a miracle in 2026, yet here we are. Yesterday, against every digital trend and industry forecast, Die Papier arrived on shelves from the Cape to Musina—and I bought my copy at the Astron in Fish Hoek with a genuine sense of relief.
That may not sound extraordinary in an age dominated by digital media, but in today’s shrinking newspaper market, it is a genuinely remarkable development. In recent years, several long-standing Afrikaans print titles have disappeared or moved online, including Beeld and Volksblad, while the well-known Sunday paper Rapport also ended its traditional daily print run.
Against that backdrop, the launch of a new national Afrikaans weekly feels almost rebellious.
Afrikaans is spoken by millions of South Africans and remains one of the largest languages in the country. Unlike English—which, although widely used, is historically a colonial import—Afrikaans is a home-grown South African language, born out of the interaction of cultures at the Cape. For such a large linguistic community, the presence of a national newspaper in their own language carries both cultural and symbolic importance.
A Full Circle back to Paarl
There is also something deeply poetic about where this new newspaper comes from.
The first Afrikaans newspaper in history, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, was founded in Paarl in 1876 by the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners. Back then, it was a modest monthly, literally hand-pressed to give a “home-grown” language its first formal voice. Within two years, it became a weekly and began reaching readers far beyond the Western Cape.
Now, exactly 150 years later, the story returns to its roots. Die Papier is published by Novus Media, part of the larger Novus Holdings group. Many South Africans still remember the company by its earlier identity as the Paarl Media Group, or simply Paarl Printers.
For more than a century, the printing plants in Paarl were the industrial engine room of South African publishing, producing everything from glossy magazines to school textbooks at an enormous scale. In 2015, the company rebranded as Novus Holdings—“Novus” being the Latin word for “new”—and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The move signaled that the business was evolving from a traditional printing operation into a diversified media and manufacturing group.
Along the way, it also built a large portfolio of over 20 community newspapers across South Africa, including titles such as the Paarl Post, Eikestadnuus, Weslander, and TygerBurger. But until now, those publications were primarily local or regional. That is why Die Papier represents such an important milestone: it is the company’s first national news publication.
What is the “Pony” Format?
I was also told that Die Papier is printed in what the industry calls a pony format.
In newspaper terminology, this essentially refers to a compact tabloid size—roughly half the size of the large traditional broadsheet newspapers. The term “pony” historically referred to smaller presses or smaller editions, much like a pony is smaller than a full-sized horse.
In Britain, many serious newspapers like The Times adopted this compact style because it is easier to handle on trains or buses while still maintaining high editorial standards. In other words, the smaller size is about convenience and modern reading habits, not about lowering journalistic quality.
Buying the First Issue
I had actually written about the coming launch of this new weekly on 17 December 2025 in an article for Idea Accelerator titled “Afrikaans newspapers in South Africa need a boost.” In that piece, I argued that a language as widely spoken and culturally significant as Afrikaans should ideally be represented by a strong national newspaper in print.
Yesterday, that idea became a reality. After a quick read of the maiden issue, the early signs are encouraging. The reporting is interesting, the commentary is thoughtful, and the newspaper contains a pleasing mix of content: politics, performing arts, fashion, and sport. It reads like a publication trying to appeal to a broad cultural audience rather than a narrow niche.
A Tiny KZN Resident
My only small complaint concerns a minor technical glitch. One article about an endangered species had blurred text. The story focused on the Pickersgill-rietpadda (Pickersgill’s Reed Frog).
This tiny creature is critically endangered and endemic only to a narrow strip of the KwaZulu-Natal coastline. Including a hyper-local conservation story like this in a national paper is a great touch—it shows an editorial heart that cares about the granular details of biodiversity. It is a minor production hiccup that I’m sure will be corrected in future editions.
A Brave Bet on Print
Launching a new print newspaper in 2026 is undeniably bold.
Print circulation across the world has been declining for years as readers migrate online. Yet there remains something uniquely satisfying about the tactile experience of a newspaper—turning the pages, discovering stories unexpectedly, and reading without the constant distraction of notifications.
For a language community as large and culturally rich as Afrikaans, the existence of a national newspaper still carries real meaning. That is why the launch of Die Papier matters. It is a reminder that even in the digital age, the printed newspaper is not entirely finished—and that sometimes the most courageous media decisions are the ones that go slightly against the prevailing tide.
