Celebrating 160 years

TODAY this newspaper includes a supplement – a souvenir as part of celebrating 160 years the Cape Argus has been in existence.

In it we highlight some of the significant news events which took place over the past 16 decades, and reflect on how we had covered shocking and sometimes heart-wrenching news from right here in our city as well as the rest of the world.

We remember the Cape Argus’s first owners when, way back in 1857, upon establishing the newspaper, they said: “Let those who feel safe in truth support us in acting upon it.”

Those 13 words still ring true to this day. The Cape Argus has a fine tradition of unbiased, ethical and truthful journalism. This won’t change.

The 160th Birthday supplement is but a small token of our gratitude and appreciation to the paper’s long-standing subscribers and readers. We would like to say thank you for their loyalty and support.

It is unfortunate that we could not give you all the newsworthy items. This was due to space constraints, but we have tried to encapsulate the past 160 years between the covers of the 24-page supplement.

This newspaper treasures the support of its readers. There is an open invitation for them to share their views. It is the readers who are keeping us accountable and who have given us the responsibility to report stories that matter, and to speak truth to power.

Many have said that the Cape Argus – the oldest newspaper in the city – is as part of Cape Town as Table Mountain and The Castle of Good Hope. We would like to add and say that the residents of this beautiful city are the fibres that makes the paper part of a perfectly woven tapestry called the Mother City.

More importantly, it is our readers, subscribers and clients who make the paper what it is. The Cape Argus belongs to you.

So today we give you a keepsake, a special little something you can keep on your bookshelves and something you may want to keep and show your children and they, their children.

Thank you and happy reading.