Its official – the Limpopo Mirror is the top-selling community newspaper in the province! The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) released the latest figures on Thursday (November 2) and confirmed average sales over a three month period of 9 504 for the newspaper.

This is the first time in the history of the newspaper that it manages to outsell community newspapers that distribute in bigger cities such as Polokwane. The Limpopo Mirror’s closest rival, the Northern Review’s weekend edition, on average recorded single copy sales of 8 540. The provincial newspaper, the Capricorn Voice, showed another drop in circulation and now stands at 5 224.

What makes the Limpopo Mirror’s achievement so remarkable is that this newspaper only circulates in the northern and eastern parts of the province. The distribution area includes the towns of Thohoyandou, Makhado, Musina and Giyani.

The Limpopo Mirror’s history dates back to 1990 when it was first published in the then Venda homeland. The newspaper could very well be described as a pioneer in its field, as it was one of the few commercial newspapers in the country aimed at predominantly black readers. Over the years, it showed a steady growth in popularity and circulation, while at the same time never losing touch with its readers.

The newspaper received various accolades in the past years for its projects and community involvement. In 2005, the Limpopo Mirror won the World Young Reader prize. This prize is annually awarded by the World Association of Newspapers to reward newspapers’ efforts to attract more young readers. The Limpopo Mirror shared the trophy with the Irish Independent, Ireland’s biggest daily newspaper.

"However, the thing that excites us most, is readership growth," says Anton van Zyl, manager of the Zoutnet group that publishes the Limpopo Mirror. "The proof of whether you’re doing things right does not lie in certificates or trophies, but in the response you get from readers. If they love your product, you know you are on the right track," he says.

The latest figures show an increase in sales of 14,3% over the previous three month period. Sales are up 34% compared to the same period last year.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations releases figures every three months. The member publications are subjected to strict rules in terms of how circulation figures are calculated and the figures are audited independently every six months. The following newspapers in the Limpopo Province are members of the ABC and their circulation figures for the July to September period are reflected (with the previous period in brackets):

Bosvelder                                  2 775 (2 628);

Capricorn Voice                       5 224 (5 285);

Letaba Herald                           4 223 (4 093);

Limpopo Mirror                       9 504 (8 312);

Northern Review (midweek)  7 601 (7 263);

Northern Review (weekend)   8 540 (8 465);

Palaborwa Herald                    2 184 (2 190);

Zoutpansberger                        2 574 (2 656).