After serving South Africa for many years Press Ombudsman Joe Thloloe had decided to retire after helping build the Press Council from the ground up.
Now it was time to get some well deserved rest.
Joe Thloloe had been a journalist through the dark days of apartheid and learned to write as a prisoner in detention. It was during this period that he began to expose the iniquities of the apartheid government and eventually was known as the most arrested journalist in South African history.
After South Africa’s first democratic elections, Joe remained unyielding and continued to champion press freedom, helping establish the free media that we enjoy today.
As part of his retirement ceremony, the Press Council approached frayintermedia to produce a tribute video that could do justice to his unparalleled career.
Our team arranged interviews with giants in the South African media to try and piece together the stories from Joe’s career, from his days as the first black journalist at the Rand Daily Mail, to his presence on every significant media body in the days of democracy.
The final video was played for Joe at his retirement ceremony at the Press Council 2018 AGM, surrounded by fellow leaders of the free press.