Dai Wenjun

When Dai Wenjun accompanied his mother to South Africa, he loved the new country with its wonderful landscape and promise of adventure. Only one thing bothered him. 

Even as a 16-year-old, he noticed that though South Africa had a growing Chinese community, it was virtually absent from South African media. He came from China’s financial hub Shanghai, where he had been used to seeing news about the big Chinese companies splashed in the media. "[But in Johannesburg] I found the news of the Chinese community didn’t go out to the community itself. Nor did South Africans know what was happening in the community," Dai said. "The Chinese donate to South African schools and help the poor. They support South African government projects. But you couldn’t find any news in the local newspapers or on websites."   

Inspired by the Internet 

Dai, the son of an adventurous entrepreneur who started his electronic retail business in Johannesburg in the 1990s, wanted to make the Chinese community more visible. "I had the idea of starting a website in English that would highlight their activities," he said. "But I couldn’t do it alone. I needed a partner."

The right man came along after Dai had graduated from university in economics and started his own printing business. He began getting a lot of business from the Chinese community and that’s how he met Wu Shaokang. 

Wu, an entrepreneur from Hong Kong, had been inspired by the success of Chinese online shopping platforms like Taobao and Tmall and wanted to grow a similar Internet-based business in South Africa. In 2010, when text messaging services like WeChat took the Internet by storm and became highly effective marketing tools, Wu founded his company, Simpweb. It ran several e-commerce sites: buyfast.co.za, a wholesale and retail marketplace for electronic goods and home appliances; bulkdeals.co.za for bulk purchases; and shoppingmap.co.za, an online directory for shoppers and diners. 

Dai, as Wu’s business partner, began circulating news of the Chinese community in South Africa via WeChat as a sideline at first. In 2014, he developed that into a fully-fledged news site, NFonline, where NF stands for Nan Fei, Chinese for South Africa.  

Keeping readers posted 

At the NFonline office in Johannesburg, its four-member staff is busy updating the news every day. "NFonline tries to attend all kinds of Chinese community social events and pass on the information to local South Africans. Our readers are basically people who love to know about Chinese culture and the Chinese community in South Africa," Dai said. 

In February, when Beijing Automobile Works (BAW) South Africa, a subsidiary of Beijing Automotive Industry Co., one of the top vehicle manufacturers in China, wanted to talk about Sasuka’s progress, its CEO James Chung gave an interview to NFonline. Sasuka, which means "we are departing" in Zulu, is BAW’s 16-seater minibus taxi, launched in 2012. Assembled in South Africa, it has grown its number of dealers from 30 in 2013 to 37 in 2015, targeting 45 by 2018. 

NFonline, which also has Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts, posted a video clip on Facebook in which Chung explains why the company came to South Africa. "Mini taxis are a crucial form of transport [in South Africa]," he says. "[Both] schoolchildren and adults use [them] to travel to school and work [respectively]. The consumer market in this country is good... It gives new brands an opportunity." 

Pamela, a Chinese college student in Johannesburg, who wanted to be identified only by her first name, was keen to attend an anti-racism rally in Pretoria in February organized by a new civil society group, the Anti-Racism Network South Africa. She had heard several Chinese from Johannesburg and Pretoria were also going to take part and logged onto NFonline to find out how she could join them. "I learned that buses would be leaving from the Eastgate Shopping Center [in Johannesburg] at 7 a.m.," she said. "I also learned that the ruling party, the African National Congress, has many Chinese members. I did not know that before."

Incidents featuring the Chinese community that go ignored by the mainstream media or get only a brief mention find a rallying point at NFonline, like a brutal crime last year. On December 7, Malvern, a suburb in Johannesburg, was shocked by an attack on a Chinese family that left the 63-year-old householder dead. The attackers then raped his 85-year-old mother. 

The Chinese community took to NFonline to express their outrage. "It makes me sick," said Charles Chen, who had grown up and studied in South Africa. "It is sickening," echoed Carrie Jiang, a former personal assistant at the Chinese consulate in Durban. "We heard about it all the way in Durban."

A week later, the website followed up on it, informing the community that a protest march would be held, providing details about when and where. 

The Chinese community also logs in for information that is of interest to them but unlikely to be reported elsewhere, like Xinzhi Books, the Chinese language bookstore chain, opening a store in Johannesburg; or the Chongqing Chamber of Commerce opening an office in Johannesburg to address problems faced by Chinese from that major city in southwest China. 

Dr. Ke Yu, a social scientist working with the Human Sciences Research Council in Pretoria who also teaches Chinese at the Pretoria Chinese School on Saturdays, has just registered for NFonline’s e-newsletter. "I generally don’t surf any particular website but rely on signed-up newsletters to keep me updated on news," she said. 

Stephen Steyl, a retiree from Namibia now living in Gauteng, South Africa, has been checking out NFonline for business news. Steyl’s latest interest was the Alumni China-Africa Business Club meet at Johannesburg this year to help Chinese and African business leaders network. 

Culture is perhaps the biggest draw of the website, roping in viewers not only from across Africa but much farther. The video clips of the dance, juggling and acrobatic performances during the Chinese New Year have got a viewership beyond Dai’s anticipation. They were admired by people as diverse as Andre Da Luz, a pastor at the church of Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo No Mundo in Luanda, Angola; Rose Noire, a business woman in Antsiranana, Madagascar; Sabita KC who lives in Kathmandu, Nepal; and Sj Khampush, who is in Kabul, Afghanistan. 

Going beyond borders 

To cover Chinese events in other African countries, NFonline has a tieup with the Xinhua News Agency and one of the biggest Chinese national dailies, People’s Daily. "We are the only English news website in South Africa focusing on the Chinese," Dai said. "Xinhua and People’s Daily were looking to explore the English-language readership and they came to me."

NFonline is planning greater coverage of "Chinese stories." Dai is discussing a radio program on culture and business with Classic FM, a music radio station in South Africa. "By working [together], we are both looking at bringing in more business from China to South Africa and seeking other business opportunities in China," he said. "Africa has more opportunities than the United States or Europe. You can start a small business such as a store in the flea market and you can still make a living in South Africa. But in Europe and the United States you have to have a job or you have to be very rich [to be able to live there.] Besides, South Africa is one of the strongest economies in Africa." 

NFonline also plans to host a Chinese expo in Johannesburg, showcasing Chinese culture and food. "There was a lot of that during the Year of China in South Africa [in 2015] and the Year of South Africa in China [in 2014], but all these activities were organized at the government level," Dai said. "Without government support, there [may not] be any more such festivals in South Africa. That’s why we are looking for something that will be purely driven by the private sector, so that we can have it every year."