AIP is governed by a board of 14 directors, each of whom is elected annually by the general membership to represent specific provinces or special interest groups.
South Africa's three most populous provinces, Gauteng, KwaZulu Natal, and the Western Cape, get two board directors each to cater for the large number of grassroots publications. The East Cape, Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga each get one director, while North West and the Northern Cape share a single director.
On additional non executive director is co-opted to represent AIP's Vernacular Press Forum, while non executive seats on the board are also help by the independent Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) and the grassroots advertising procurement agency CAPRO.
The 2008/9 board directors are:
JUSTIN ARENSTEIN is the publisher of HomeGrown Magazine's glossy lifestyle titles, Lowveld Living, Highveld Living and Limpopo Living, as well as the Mpumalanga Today and African Journalist e-newsletters in Mpumalanga. He is also publisher of the region's only rural-based social justice news agency, African Eye News Service (AENS), where his investigative work has won a number of major international journalism awards. Justin can be reached at publisher@homegrown.co.za
ZAIDI KHUMALO is publisher of Lokshin Media's award-winning Kathorus Mail newspaper in Gauteng. He is a Sanlam Community Press Awards judge and also serves on a number of national media training and development bodies, where he champions the interests of grassroots journalists. Zaidi can be reached at kathorusmail@lokshinmedia.co.za
ANNALIE DU PLESSIS is publisher of the Eastern Group of newspapers in Gauteng, including Eastern, Zambi, Centurion News, Student2b and Kontreiboek. She also a board director at the grassroots sector's advertising agency, CAPRO, and represents AIP on various other industry bodies. on Annalie can be reached on annalie@eastern.co.za
SHEILA MHLONGO is publisher of the pioneering isiZulu vernacular newspaper KZN Community News in rural KwaZulu Natal. A 15 year veteran of the grassroots media sector, she has worked in both the print and radio sectors and has won recognition for her coverage of government developmental work. Sheila can be reached at kznnews@lantic.net
MBALI DHLOMO is publisher of the Genuine rural lifestyle magazine in KwaZulu Natal.
MAHMOOD SANGLEY is publisher of the faith-based Muslim Views newspaper in the Western Cape. A qualified teacher with 10 years experience in grassroots media, Mahmood is a Fulbright Fellow who spent time at the Unversity of Maryland in the USA. Mahmood serves on AIP's fund-raising committee and can be reached at mahmood@mviews.co.za
WILLIDA PEACH is the publisher and editor of Chalkline, an independent monthly delivered directly to 20 000 teachers in the greater Western Cape. Building on 14 years of sales and marketing experience with a major publishing house, the progress of the newspaper was recognized by The Argus and Liberty Life Entrepreneur of the year Awards in 2006, where she was one of five finalists. Willida can be reached at peach@tiscali.co.za
DIPHETE BOPAPE is publisher of the indigenous-language newspaper Seipone Xivoni Tshivhoni in Limpopo. He is a widely published novelist and poet, who wrote the first siPedi detective novel, and is also a registered training and mentorship assessor for the statutory Services SETA. Diphete can be reached at dipheteb@absamail.co.za
WANDILE FANA is publisher of the deep rural Skawara News in the Eastern Cape.
TEBOHO MAHLABA is publisher of the rural youth newspaper Lentswe in the Free State
DEON VAN HUIZEN is publisher of the Komorant newspaper and its community website www.kormorant.co.za in North West. He also lectures photojournalism at the Tshwane Unversity of Technology (TUT), and helps journalism students find internships and employment in the grassroots and community press sector. Deon can be reached at news@kormorant.co.za
RISHAAD MOHAMMED is chairperson of South Africa's only independent grassroots advertising procurement agency, CAPRO, and has been co-opted onto the AIP board as a non-executive director to help improve the sector's access to market resources. Rishaad is himself a publisher at the Tabloid Group of grassroots newspapers in KwaZulu Natal, which produces a network of 11 titles catering for communities within Kwazulu-Natal. Rishaad can be reached at boss@tabloidmedia.co.za
HENNIE STANDER is chairperson of the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) and has been co-opted onto the AIP board as a non-executive director to represent the interests of journalists and other media workers in the grassroots press sector. Hennie is group editor of Media24's northern community newspapers in North West province. He can be reached on hstander@media24.com
