The Johannesburg Press Club’s rich history dates to 1956 when the club held its first meeting in a restaurant across from Joubert Park, the pride of the city’s forgotten gardens. Like all such organisations, the Press Club experienced highs and lows but was revitalised in 1979 by Ray Smuts and Hans Strydom, respectively chairman and deputy chairman of one of the country’s leading Sunday newspapers
, the Sunday Times. Approximately 400 people, comprising journalists, advertising and public relations specialists, as well as members of the arts fraternity, attended the meeting at which it was decided to rename the club The South African Press Club. At the 1982 AGM, a new committee was elected under the leadership of Daan de K**k, financial editor of the Citizen, and deputy chairman Hans Lombard who, currently, serves on the Executive Committee again! It was during this time that the name was changed back to the Johannesburg Press Club because it was thought that the name South African Press club was confusing. The logo being used today is almost identical to the logo that “Oom Hans” had designed for the club 30 years ago. Oom Hans also wrote the constitution of the club which is still being used for the moment. In 1984 the club announced its first “Newsmaker of the Year”, the barefoot athlete, Zola Budd. In 1985 Daan de K**k retired as chairman and Hans Lombard was elected chairman for a period of 15 consecutive years. The club also had a “Newsmaker” function annually which has been sponsored by various prominent companies. The Johannesburg Press Club holds the distinction to be have been the first such club to have hosted both Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk as well as being the first to nominate them as the as its duo of “Newsmakers”. The Springbok rugby team became the first collective group to be made Johannesburg Press Club “Newsmakers”. When Joel Stransky graced the cross bar in the dying seconds of the Rugby World Club match played in South Africa in 1995, the management committee immediately acted and issued a press release to announce the decision. All the news bulletins that evening carried our club’s story as did the Monday papers. Probably the most unusual “Newsmaker of the Year” was Max, the famous gorilla at the Johannesburg Zoo. This exceptional primate apprehended a criminal who tried to dash through his den and Max became internationally famous when he was designated the Johannesburg Press Club’s annual newsmaker and received worldwide coverage. Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female prime minister, is also a Johannesburg Press Club “Newsmaker”. The club’s citation hung framed in her office for the duration of her premiership.
