His appointment, following the departure of Mazwi Xaba, was effective from July 1. Hadebe was promoted from deputy editor, a position he has held for the past 18 months.

“Sazi brings with him experience of more than eight years with our highly successful Zulu-language titles, and the collegial respect he has garnered along the way has made him the choice for this demanding job,” said Brian Porter and Greg le Roux, joint general managers of Independent Newspapers KwaZulu-Natal.

“He started with Isolezwe at its launch, as a sports reporter. Then he drifted from us for two years, but returned to his natural home as sports editor, rising to deputy editor, then on to acting editor."

Hadebe, 38, and a father of four daughters, is part of an exciting, dynamic generation of young editors in the group’s KwaZulu-Natal business, where he now joins a structure which boasts four editors below the age of 45.

“Isolezwe celebrates 10 years of success this year. The newspaper has exceeded all expectations, making it an important component of our bouquet of titles in KwaZulu-Natal. Isolezwe ngeSonto and Isolezwe ngoMgqibelo, our newest addition to the stable launched 10 months ago to cater for the Saturday market, have done just as well,” said Porter and le Roux. Hadebe will have overall responsibility for all three titles.

Tony Howard, CEO of Independent Newspapers in South Africa, added his congratulations: “I am delighted with the appointment of Sazi and wish him well as he takes over the reins of an incredibly exciting brand. It will be Sazi’s assignment to take these titles to even greater heights, in a most demanding market. We have every confidence in his ability to do so. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Sazi, and all his colleagues, who have contributed to the tremendous success of Isolezwe over the past 10 years. We now look forward to even greater things from them under his leadership.”

Hadebe said his journey from sports reporter to editor in 10 years should inspire all colleagues at Isolezwe, especially the younger ones: “I humbly accept the challenge and I'm very positive about the future of all our titles. My job really will be to continue the outstanding job started by our first editor, Philani Mgwaba, and the two equally capable editors that followed him, Thulani Mbatha and Mazwi Xaba, who have all contributed immensely to the growth of this brand which is now producing a paper each day of the week.

“With the dedicated team I have here I have no doubt we will be equal to the task by keeping our readers happy through producing news that is always relevant to them, news that can even change their lives.”