Hayibo says goodbye - for good

2012-12-11 14:48

South African satirical website Hayibo is to shut down for good. (Duncan Alfreds, News24)

Duncan Alfreds

Cape Town - South African satirical website Hayibo is to shut down for good.

The website announced on Tuesday that it could not sustain satirical site that parodied South African politicians like Helen Zille and Julius Malema.

"It's been a very tough decision, but the facts are these: we just don’t have enough money or writers to keep Hayibo meeting the standards you've come to expect," Hayibo.com announced under the heading "Hamba kahle, Hayibo…".

The website has become somewhat of an online institution and lived up to its tagline of "Breaking news. Into lots of little pieces". Its content closely followed breaking news events, focusing mainly on politics.

The site closed down briefly in August 2010, but came roaring back. This time, the site owners say that a dearth of writers and funding means that there is no hope that the site will be resurrected.

"Our demographic is apparently pure gold (you, dear readers, are among the most educated and discerning people in the land), but we are hamstrung by a serious shortage of writers.

"Given more time and money we might have tried to develop a writing team and run Hayibo as a full-time operation, but alas our pockets and our talent pool have now run dry. The three writers who’ve kept breaking the news since August are now pretty much broken themselves," Hayibo wrote.

The site said that advertisers have not recognised the value of satire in SA, as digital media continues to struggle for a bigger share of corporate funding.

Friday will mark the last Hayibo posting and there will be a one-off print publication of the site content early in 2013.


- Follow Duncan on Twitter

- News24