Community Profile of Manenberg

Communication is important for the existence and preservation of a community. It allows members to know what is going on around them on a daily basis while also bringing them together in the event of a tragedy. Without the presence of the press through newspapers, television stations, or radio shows, the people of a community would be forced to rely on hearing from others about the current events that impact them. While Manenberg does not have any press outlet created solely for their community, there are a couple different outlets which cover the area. One newspaper, which predominantly reaches Manenberg and other colored communities in the Western Cape, is the Son. For the people of Manenberg, it’s considered a cheap and reasonable way to get the news (Janson, personal communication, August 6, 2013). This newspaper is modeled more like a tabloid than a newspaper (website?). It covers information from celebrities and scandal to present day injustice and community outreach. There is a daily version of the paper which has shorter articles, but on Sundays there’s an editorial version that has longer, more in-depth articles. The paper is written in Afrikaans which is the primary language people in Manenberg use to communicate (Janson, personal communication, August 6, 2013). There also appears to be a website for the paper, but it is also written in Afrikaans. After a little translation, it appears that they have topics ranging from sports and gossip to news (http://dieson.mobi). Most of the news stories involved people in one of the communities in the Western Cape. Aside from the Son and Son op Sondag, other newspapers cover issues in Manenberg as well. There’s the Athlone News, which has Athlone as it’s main focus, of which Manenberg is part of (Janson, personal communication, August 6, 2013). There are also larger news outlets, like Eyewitness News, which have had multiple stories about Manenberg recently (“Eye Witness News”). Most of the stories from the