Capturing history through the eyes of lensmen

A newspaper article is often only as good as the picture that accompanies it, and over the years Weekend Post has boasted a line-up of remarkable photographers to tell stories in images.

For more than three decades, the byline of Mike Holmes appeared under countless pictures of the former Evening Post and later Weekend Post.

After playing club rugby in Italy for a few years, Holmes returned home to Nelson Mandela Bay in 1980, where his photography career began in the days of black-and-white pictures and hours in the dark room developing images.

“Saturdays were always crazy — three deadlines, sporting events, runners that had to rush back to the office to hand in film reels — it was a mad rush,” Holmes said.

“Photographers that came after that really missed a lot. They don’t have an appreciation for modern photography like us old dogs.”

He remembers days of great political turmoil, covering events like the Northern Areas Uprising, and particularly covering the funeral of a prominent political figure in Cradock.

“We flew in on a tiny plane, and as we flew over the town I saw a sea of people flooding the streets of the township outside Cradock.

“I knew we would have to fight our way in.

“I remember seeing a woman being necklaced by the angry mob, but we were threatened and forbidden from taking pictures.

“And just as we fought to get in, we had to fight our way out.”

A highlight for Holmes was photographing former president Nelson Mandela on several occasions, to the point where Madiba knew him by name.

“During one of his visits to the Bay, Mandela walked from Newspaper House to the Opera House, and the whole way he held my hand.

“It was a surreal moment, but also incredibly frustrating because I couldn’t get my pictures.

“As we reached the Opera House he let go of my hand, and just before he entered he looked at me and said: ‘Remember Mr Holmes, no flash’. I will never forget that day.”

Asked how he felt about Weekend Post’s closure, Holmes simply said: “I’m sad. It’s the end of an era.”

Coming straight out of then-PE Technikon, Salvelio Meyer landed a freelancing gig with Weekend Post that saw him cover a string of newsworthy events in the early to mid-90s.

“It was an exciting and eye-opening experience. There was camaraderie in the newsroom and friendships were forged.

“We shot on film and computers were almost nonexistent in the newsroom,” he said.

Besides taking pictures to accompany a series of harrowing crime stories, Meyer also fondly remembers happier times capturing visits by prominent figures and celebrities, such as Mandela, Queen Elizabeth, Paul Simon, Cliff Richard and Chris de Burgh. 

A less fortunate experience for Meyer was getting beaten up outside court by a drug lord.

“But it was also a time of great change, and I was privileged to work as a press photographer during SA’s first democratic elections in 1994.”

It was also during those days that he met his wife, Louise Liebenberg, who would go on to play a prominent role at Weekend Post for many years.

Former pictures editor B-Jay Piercey was sad to hear about Weekend Post’s fate, but said she was grateful for the trip down memory lane it had given her.

“I photographed five different SA presidents, met and shook hands with the late Queen of England, sat and had a smoke with Rodriguez — I met so many people, good and bad, whose lives touched mine.

“At the end of the day, newspaper life has always been about people, regardless of status, wealth or where they are in their journey.”

She also remembers tales of ghosts at Newspaper House and always putting on a brave face when working in the dark room late at night.

“But there came a night when I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

“In my haste, as I boarded the old wooden lift, I dropped my car and house keys, and watched in slow motion how they fell down the side of the lift and straight to the basement. 

“I was stuck in the big old grey square until Otis Elevators could come and rescue first my keys, and then me,” she recalled.

Current Herald and Weekend Post chief photographer Eugene Coetzee remembers the mad rush of supplying pictures for various Saturday editions as far back as 1995.

He recalls one Saturday during a 1995 Rugby World Cup match at Telkom Park, previously known as the Boet Erasmus Stadium.

“I remember a power failure and the lights going out halfway through the game, leaving the entire field in darkness,” he said, laughing.

Back then, Weekend Post was one of the Sunday Times’ biggest competitors, and he always enjoyed seeing Weekend Post get the scoop.

“It’s very sad to see a paper like Weekend Post, with such a long and rich history, close down,” Coetzee said.

Weekend Post had its share of award-winning pictures and photographers over the years, and most recently Werner Hills won the 2021 regional Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award in the photography category for capturing the devastation caused by locust swarms in the Karoo.