Moipone Malefane opens doors for TUT journalists and small businesses

Award-winning journalist, Moipone Malefane, is using more than two decades of experience to empower young journalists and spotlight small businesses through Vutivi Business News

Moipone Malefane The digital publication she founded in 2020.

Vutivi focuses on small businesses and entrepreneurship while offering young journalists, including Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) graduates, opportunities to gain industry experience and sharpen their skills. The name Vutivi, which means “knowledge” in Xitsonga, reflects her mission to inform, educate and empower.

“Knowledge is power,” she says. After a long career as a political writer and editor at major news outlets such as the Sowetan, The Star and Sunday Times, Malefane realised that South Africa lacked Black business and financial journalists. “Realising there is a big gap in journalism, especially in stories about small businesses and township entrepreneurs,I wanted to do something different” she explains.

Since launching, Vutivi has grown into a hybrid newsroom where journalists work remotely from across the country. The model aligns with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and shows how technology is reshaping the media industry. “COVID-19 taught us to operate differently. Our journalists work from wherever they are and we meet virtually every week to plan and review stories. It is flexible and effective,” Malefane says.

Her work extends beyond running a newsroom. She mentors emerging writers through a foundation she established to train young journalists in business reporting. Several trainees have come from TUT, a university she praises for producing determined and capable graduates.

TUT journalism alumna, Excel Fongoma, credits Vutivi for deepening her understanding of the business ecosystem and sharpening her reporting skills in finance, technology, innovation and the SMME sector. “Through covering small business stories, I learnt to write strong, meaningful stories,  as well as build relationships with entrepreneurs, industry leaders and government stakeholders,” she says.

Shalate Davhana, Manager for Alumni Relations and Fundraising at TUT, adds that  Malefane’s work reflects TUT’s vision of producing entrepreneurial graduates who use their education to innovate and create opportunities. According to her, Malefane is proving, through Vutivi Business News, that journalism can be more than storytelling; it can be a platform for empowerment, knowledge and economic growth.