# Max du Preez’s Vrye Weekblad Is Dead Again — And This Time, There’s No Coming Back

**The newspaper that returned from the grave in 2019 has finally closed its doors. For those of us who never shared Max du Preez’s political outlook, its demise is hardly a cause for mourning.**

There is something rather satisfying about watching a publication that once prided itself on challenging the establishment ultimately fall victim to the most unforgiving judge of all: financial reality.

*Vrye Weekblad*, the Afrikaans newspaper founded by Max du Preez in 1988, has shut down once again. Its digital reincarnation, launched in April 2019, published its final edition on 28 March 2025. Du Preez attributed the closure to the publication's inability to secure sufficient paying subscribers to sustain its operations.

For those of us who never warmed to Du Preez or his political worldview, the news is welcome. I certainly won't be shedding any tears.

## Two closures, one uncomfortable lesson

The original *Vrye Weekblad* emerged during the final years of apartheid, positioning itself as a radical challenger to the prevailing political order. It became known for its investigations into state-sponsored violence, including revelations surrounding Vlakplaas and the activities of the Civil Cooperation Bureau.

Its offices were bombed in 1991, and the newspaper eventually closed in February 1994 following severe financial difficulties, including crippling legal expenses associated with defamation litigation.

That first closure had a very different character from the second. The original publication operated in a hostile political environment and faced serious legal and financial pressures. Its investigative work formed part of an important chapter in South African journalism.

But history did not end there.

In 2019, Du Preez brought *Vrye Weekblad* back as a digital publication, hoping to establish a new home for its journalism and opinions. The internet offered opportunities that had not existed during the newspaper's original print era. There was no need for a traditional printing operation, physical distribution network or the associated costs.

Yet, despite these advantages, the revived publication could not establish a sufficiently strong paying readership to keep itself going.

By March 2025, the experiment was over.

The newspaper had failed twice, in two very different eras, under very different circumstances.

## The market has the final word

There is an important distinction between being able to publish opinions and being able to sustain a publication commercially.

The internet allows almost anyone to establish a website, publish articles and distribute political commentary to a potentially worldwide audience. But the ability to publish is not the same as the ability to persuade enough people to pay for that content.

A publication may have committed readers, prominent contributors and a recognisable name. It may even enjoy considerable attention on social media. None of those things guarantees a viable business.

The experience of the digital *Vrye Weekblad* illustrates this problem. When the publication moved from a free model to one requiring paying subscribers, it struggled to attract enough people willing to support it financially.

That is the essential point.

Readers may be willing to consume political commentary when it costs them nothing. Asking those same readers to open their wallets is a very different proposition.

Whatever its ambitions, *Vrye Weekblad* ultimately could not make the numbers work.

And no amount of ideological conviction can permanently substitute for a sustainable business model.

## Max du Preez and the limits of political influence

My own view of Max du Preez has never been favourable. I have long detested his political outlook and have had little sympathy for the worldview promoted by his publication.

I therefore regard the newspaper's final closure with considerable satisfaction.

That is a personal political judgment, and I make no pretence otherwise.

Du Preez was entitled to publish his opinions, just as his critics are entitled to reject them. Freedom of expression protects the right to argue for a particular political position; it does not oblige the public to agree with it, support it financially or subscribe to a publication promoting it.

Nor does a journalist's public profile guarantee a commercially successful newspaper.

The revival of *Vrye Weekblad* demonstrated that an established name and a determined editor could bring a publication back to life. Its eventual closure demonstrated the limits of that achievement.

A publication can have a history, a following and a committed editorial team, yet still fail to persuade enough readers that its continued existence is worth paying for.

That is a sobering reality for any media entrepreneur.

## No more revivals

The original *Vrye Weekblad* closed in 1994. Its digital successor closed in 2025.

The circumstances surrounding the two closures were different, and it would be simplistic to pretend otherwise. The first publication faced extraordinary political and legal pressures; the second struggled to achieve financial sustainability in the digital media market.

Nevertheless, the final result is the same: *Vrye Weekblad* is no longer publishing.

For its supporters, that represents the loss of a publication with which they identified politically. For those of us who disliked its editorial outlook, it is a development we can greet without sadness.

I see no reason to romanticise the newspaper simply because it once occupied a prominent place in South African media history. Its past achievements do not entitle it to an indefinite future, and its founder's determination to revive it could not guarantee its survival.

The digital age is littered with publications that believed their voices deserved a permanent place in the public conversation. The market has shown, repeatedly, that no publication enjoys such a guarantee.

Max du Preez has had his second attempt. It is over.

**The final word belongs to reality: a newspaper that cannot sustain itself financially cannot continue publishing indefinitely. And this time, *Vrye Weekblad* has reached the end of the road.**

I won't miss it.