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This resource is hosted by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, but was compiled and authored by Padraig O’Malley. It is the product of almost two decades of research and includes analyses, chronologies, historical documents, and interviews from the apartheid and post-apartheid eras.

Vosloo, Theunissen (Ton)

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Ton Vosloo is non-executive chairman of Naspers. He retired as executive chairman of Naspers on 30 September 1997 after almost 42 years in the publishing industry.

Vosloo is chairman of group subsidiaries and related interests, such as Media24, Nasboek and the MIH pay television group.   He was non-executive Chair of Sanlam until recently.

He was chairman of the Worldwide Fund for Nature SA (WWF SA) until September 2004 and a member of the SA National Parks Board for 11 years. He is chairman of the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra and a trustee of the Foundation for Empowerment through Afrikaans.

Ton Vosloo grew up in Uitenhage, where he matriculated from Brandwag High School. From 1970 to 1971 he was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

He was a journalist from 1956 to 1983, editor of Beeld from 1977 to 1983, managing director of Naspers from 1984, and executive chairman of Naspers from September 1992 to September 1997. Vosloo is a past president of the Print Media Association of SA and was a member of the World Association of Newspapers. In 1989 he won the Protea Award as SA's Marketer of the Year. In 1992, he was named Die Burger's Businessman of the Year as well as one of Business Times' Top 5. He was also the recipient of the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut's Tinie Louw Award for business leadership. In 2000 Vosloo received an Honorary Award from the FAK.

In 1994, Vosloo was awarded an honorary D.Phil by the University of Potchefstroom for service and contribution in the fields of communication and the conservation and development of Afrikaans. This was followed in 2000 by an honorary D.Comm by the University of Stellenbosch for business excellence and the promotion of Afrikaans. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary D.Phil in technologies by the information sciences faculty of Pretoria Technikon for his contribution to the business sector, especially in the media industry.

The Finnish government awarded him that country's highest civilian decoration, the Order of the White Rose, for his contribution to trade and initiatives to promote Afrikaans.

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