Legendary veteran journalist and editor Phalane Motale was recently honoured in his hometown of Soshanguve, Tshwane during the Jubilee (50 years) celebrations of the sprawling township’s existence.
Guest speakers at the event included political activist and Catholic priest Father Smangaliso Mkhatshwa and Auditor General Tsakani Maluleke.
The event was organised by the Soshanguve Heritage Forum and Motale was lavished with the Recognition Award for his contribution to the Growth and Development of Soshanguve for the last 50 years.
The award-winning editor and highly-respected journalist has close to 30 years experience in the print media industry.
“I was senior journalist for Pretoria News, City Press (News Editor), The Star and Sunday World and later became the founding editor of Sunday Sun from 2001 to 2008,” he said.
“And I was from May 2015 until July 2016 news editor and acting editor of the Sunday Independent,” he explained.
“I studied at various institutions including the Argus School of Journalism, the Tshwane University of Technology, Wits University (Media Law and Ethics (Honours degree), the University of Pretoria (Events Management and Advanced Events Management) and University of South Africa where I obtained five LlB credits,” said Motale.
Motale was also Head of Communications, Marketing and Events at the then Nokeng Tsa Taemane Local Municipality between 2008 and 2011 before joining the City of Tshwane as media liaison expert until 2012.
“I joined Njabzen Media as a Media Consultant in August 2013 and became editor of the My Capital City magazine, which was the official magazine publication of the City of Tshwane,” he said.
For the past five years Motale has been working as Editorial and Content Director at Community Newspapers Initiative (CNI), which is a media entity of community newspapers.
Motale was honoured alongside various political families in Soshanguve as well as pioneers in the field of establishing businesses in the area.
Regarding the honour bestowed upon him by the Soshanguve Heritage Forum, Motale said the following:
“This is not just a recognition of my individual efforts, but a celebration of the incredible teams I have been privileged to work with over decades and together we have pushed boundaries, defied expectations and created something truly remarkable.”