About Roodepoort Record

The official establishment of the Roodepoort Record in 1978 was, in effect, the start of what ultimately became the West Rand branch of Caxton Community Newspapers.

The Roodepoort Record had the distinction of being the first generic Caxton newspaper under new proprietors Messrs Terry Moolman and Noel Coburn to appoint a full time editor (Cliff Buchler) resident in the area. It operated with a staff of two (the editor and space salesperson, Marilyn Norton) from the Afmed offices in Albertskroon (to the north west of Johannesburg) and was published twice monthly.

The Record’s phenomenal growth coincided with that of the three municipalities (Maraisburg, Florida an Roodepoort) that represented the Roodepoort area. So much so that Roodepoort was declared a city and the Record became a weekly newspaper (after one year). A classified section was established as soon as this happened.

It soon became evident that the Record had to operate from the region it represented and the editor was instructed to find “reasonably priced offices” in Roodepoort. He found a suite of five offices in a building belonging to Volkskas for the princely sum of R144 per month. Extra editorial and sales staff were taken on. During this time at least three newspaper groups tried to get a foothold in the area but, because of the Record’s strength and dedication, they soon vanished from other scene. During the second year of the Record’s existence, Messrs Moolman and Coburn spread their wings by purchasing the Randfontein Herald and Krugersdorp News. Once these fledglings became true Caxton papers, the West Rand branch proper was established at Witpoortjie. The opening was done by the then Minister of Finance, Barend du Plessis (MP for Florida). Krugersdorp and Randfontein took on bureau status.