Media 24 shuts four local papers in KZN

STAFF at four of Media 24’s Fever community newspapers in KwaZulu-Natal were told yesterday that their titles were closing because they were not making money.

Several staffers told The Star’s sister paper, The Mercury, that the Zululand Fever, Ulundi Fever, Ballito Fever and Durban North Fever were affected.

There was no announcement yet on the future of the Upper Coast Fever.

They said they were told “out of the blue” that they were being retrenched.

“We were told that Neil Tapinos (publisher) was coming for a meeting today. He walked in and said we were shutting down on November 28,” one staff member said.

“We were aware that times were tough, but we were not expecting this. There was simply no transparency. He said the Fever group, which has 14 titles, was running at a loss and the two Zululand titles were the biggest contributor to that.”

It is estimated that 17 people would be out of jobs. They have been offered their salaries for November, two months’ basic salary for December and January (excluding any allowances) and one week’s pay for every year worked. Four editorial managers in the Fever group in KwaZulu-Natal were retrenched a month ago.