fraymedia Foundation launches The EntreprenHER

fraymedia Foundation today launched a pilot programme to support women in the media industry. The seta-accredited programme, funded by MiH Holdings Pty Ltd, will take 10 tenacious women through six-months of online learning, focusing on business and management skills. The foundation will award a grant of R50 000 to one of the participants to help grow their business at the end.

Introducing the particants and the skills programme, foundation interim CEO Charmeela Bhagowat, said: "This initiative aims to increase the number of women who own media, including local and niche media, and to help women publishers grow their influence in shaping the industry and society. Women also continue to face more hurdles than their male counterparts in raising capital and finding investors willing to take risks on their ideas and ventures. The foundation aims to help narrow the gap with this grant, to learn from this pilot and shape it into a durable project that, over time, contributes to the systemic change required across the media and information ecosystem in the country."

Meet the dynamic women are part of this inaugural programme:

Melini Moses, founder of Express Yourself Communications and Training. Photo supplied.

Melini Moses’ career spans more than two decades, with experience in commercial and public broadcasting. Moses is a storyteller at heart and has travelled the world sharing stories impacting society. Driven by her passion for empowerment, Moses has been involved in training, mentoring and development. She is the owner of Express Yourself Communications and Training – a start-up aimed at providing people with all the tools they need to communicate with excellence. Some of her achievements include recognition as one of the Media Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” and as one of the Mail and Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans, who are trailblazers in their respective fields.

Munyai Mutshidzi, founder of Win One Win All. Photo suppllied.

Twenty-one-year-old Munyai Mutshidzi from Limpopo seeks to expand her social entrepreneur venture called Win One Win All. Her organisation provides help in her community, for example the provision of sanitary towels and stationery for youth. She was voted a rising star by her peers at an awards ceremony this year to celebrate the province's outstanding businesswomen.

Nomthandazo Shai, founder of Straightline News and Printing. Photo supplied.

Nomthandazo Shai is a founder of Straightline News and Printing, a

community newspaper distributed in Msholozi, Mganduzweni, Jerusalema and Dayizenza in Mpumalanga. Straightline News distributes about 5000 copies in these areas and Shai is working hard, like many other local news organistions, to keep her publication printing regularly.

Moipone Malefane, founder of Vutivi Business News. Photo supplied.

Moipone Malefane is an award-winning journalist who has worked in different media houses for over 18 years. These include The Citizen, Sunday Times, South African Press Association and The Star. She has also produced the Given Mkhari show on MetroFM and a TV show, The Big Debate.

In 2020, Malefane established her own digital online publication named Vutivi Business News. It publishes stories on small business on a weekly basis. She is a fellow of the Sixth Class of the Africa Leadership Initiative and a judge for Nat Nakasa Awards.

Pamela Timakwe. Photo supplied.

Pamela Timakwe is a radio presenter, magazine publisher and a feminist media coordinator based in the Eastern Cape. Among others, she published the Eastern Cape Women’s Magazine.

Anetta Mangxaba. photo supplied.

Anetta Mangxaba's journey began with a spark of entrepreneurial spirit. In 2007, she founded Dizindaba Media (Pty) Ltd, a company that would later become a cornerstone of community journalism in the Cape Peninsula and Cape Winelands. Starting as a small commercial newspaper, Dizindaba Iphephandaba lesiXhosa, the publication quickly gained traction, providing valuable news and information to Xhosa-speaking communities. Anetta's influence extends beyond the confines of her media company. As the Deputy Chair of the Association of Independent Publishers (AIP) and a representative of the Western Cape, she plays a pivotal role in advocating for the interests of community media and ensuring its sustainability. Her involvement in the board of the Audit Bureau of Circulation of South Africa (ABC) underscores her commitment to transparency and accountability in media circulation practices.

As Anetta continues to lead Dizindaba Media into the future, her unwavering dedication to quality journalism and community empowerment remains steadfast.

Odwa Mahlungulu. Photo: Supplied

Odwa Mahlungulu has a postgraduate diploma in public relations and communication science, achieving two distinctions in research. She hopes to launch her own community media organisation..

Deshnee Subramany, freelance editor, writer and digital consultant. Photo supplied.

Deshnee Subramany has worked as a news journalist for 15 years. She began her career as a digital media specialist at Primedia Broadcasting’s Eyewitness News before she moved to the Mail & Guardian. Deshnee was the digital lead at investigative journalism organisation amaBhungane and has joined numerous other newsrooms in broadcast and digital, including eNCA, HuffPost and The Big Debate. She most recently returned to Eyewitness News as digital editor of the brand. Deshnee is now a freelance editor, writer as well as media trainer, and is the part-time Communications Manager at Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, based at the University of Western Cape. She wants to launch a digital media business.

Zinhle Cebekhule, Publisher and Editor for Inkundla Yenzindaba Newspaper. Photo supplied.

Zinhle Cebekhulu is publisher and editor of Zulu-language community newspaper Inkundla Yezindaba Newspaper in KwaZulu Natal. It is distributed in Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu. She seeks to continue growing her publication and its revenue streams while providing her community with valuable information and news.

Charity Sehlakgoe, founder of The Reporter. Photo supplied.

Charity Sehlakgoe is a broadcaster with a National Diploma in Journalism from the Tshwane University of Technology. In 2019 she founded a community newspaper, The Reporter, which publishes in both English and Sepedi.

The publication was started with the aim of promoting Sepedi and to cultivate the culture of reading in indigenous languages in her community in the Sekhuhune region.