The agency was established on 1 July 1938, by major South African newspapers to facilitate the sharing of news. Reuters had dominated the internal supply of news in South Africa until 1938. When SAPA was founded, Reuters retained the exclusive right to supply it with world news. Reuters ended this partnership in 1995, when it began expanding its own Southern African activities in competition with SAPA. In February 1938, the constitution for the new agency was framed, and by April that year, it became a co-operative news agency under the control of every British and Afrikaans newspaper that wished to join. During the apartheid era, it was criticised by the ruling National Party for inadequate reporting of the government's viewpoint and Afrikaner culture. From 1964 to 1981, SAPA owned a subsidiary in the Inter-Africa News Agency in neighbouring Rhodesia, which was later taken over by the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust.
Present day
The non-governmental agency continues to function under the ownership of South African newspapers. SAPA is the major news supplier of foreign and domestic news to South Africa, providing all forms of media – newspapers, television, radio and web-based – with news, videos and photographs. Its newswire provides a constant feed of news to newsrooms in South Africa. The agency also maintains a picture and news video service, press release service called link2media. Traditionally, SAPA has relied on its regional newspaper members for regional South African news, in addition to reporting by its own staff. Its head office is in Johannesburg, and it has bureaus in Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein and Pretoria. Its primary area of distribution is in South Africa, although it does have clients abroad as well as exchange agreements with other major news agencies.
Closure
SAPA will cease operations on March 31, 2015 after its assets are liquidated. Three companies: Gallo Images, KMM Review Publishers, and Sekunjalo Investments Holdings have expressed an interest in setting up an operation on similar lines as the agency, which is a special category of non-profit that may not be sold.
