VIDEO: Mahareng Publishing celebrates a decade of excellence

Bloemfontein Courant and Get It Bloemfontein’s mother company, Mahareng Publishing, is celebrating a decade in the publishing business this year.
Mahareng Publishing’s 10th anniversary is certainly a milestone worth celebrating. It’s been a long, exciting journey. The community has been Mahareng Publishing’s driving motivator throughout the last ten years. We’re constantly inspired by the stories of community members and grateful for the relationships we’ve built throughout the years.
Today Mahareng Publishing forms part of the bigger Central Media Group, which includes OFM, Digital Platforms, Redstar and Central Outdoor.
The company came to exist when OFM ventured into the publishing sphere by launching its first print product and a website named OFM Wheels. According to Central Media Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Gary Stroebel, they soon realised that this product was in need of some content with substance to add value to it. Having a great relationship with Caxton & CTP Printers and Publishers, OFM approached this media mogul and soon a partnership for a new company and a discussion about the launch of a Get It magazine for our region was on the table. In November 2006 Get It Bloemfontein was launched. Today, 10 years later, Get It is still one of the community’s favourite local glossy magazines.
“Caxton brought a lot of publishing expertise, and obviously a lot of market knowledge, to the table. Because we were coming from a different medium (OFM), we also had a different sales approach. And that is where Mahareng Publishing started.”
Stroebel tells that Mahareng Publishing was also the driving force in launching Get It Vaal, Get It Nelspruit and Get It Potchefstroom/Klerksdorp.
In 2011 Mahareng Publishing bought the then local newspaper, Krant. It was renamed and rebranded to what we today know as Bloemfontein Courant.
“This gave us our first weekly newspaper and that was a real turning point for Mahareng. This gave us the opportunity of news gathering and community involvement. Soon after the daily updated websites came. This year we have launched our second community newspaper, Bloemfontein Courant Voice. One of the things that was important for Mahareng in the early years was access to a content hub rather than journalists working for one specific publication. Now, with the same approach, we are able to launch different products with content delivered from a multi-skilled hub of journalists.”
Mahareng ventured into custom printing with its first product, The Woodpecker, in 2011. The Woodpecker is Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate’s magazine. Mahareng Publishing is now proudly handling custom printing services and the development of corporate identities, which include large scale printing and publishing, logo design and branding, print advertising, newspapers, graphic design, books and magazines and outdoor branding.
With that said, at Mahareng Publishing we believe the next ten years will bring even more innovative ideas and services to our clients and readers. Cheers to the next decade!

– Maricelle Botha
maricelle@centralmediagroup.co.za