After the Bell: Casting off — my last Bell at Daily Maverick

This is the last time I will be writing this column; I’ve decided to devote most of my efforts to CurrencyNews, which has been going for six months now and has been well accepted by the market. Given the parlous state of the media in South Africa, I think it would be a terrible pity if a new news website, which has actually left the harbour and is still floating, were to falter. 

So I’m encouraged to devote myself to the dinghy of South African journalism, where I might make a larger difference than on the good ship Daily Maverick, which is now well under sail. 

I’m also charmed by the idea of being one of the founder members of CurrencyNews after being one of the first employees of Daily Maverick all those years ago, although the many journalists who were here at the start – some of whom still work at this publication – will doubtless remind me that I have been a little faithless and worked elsewhere at various stages, too.

It would be remiss of me to leave without paying tribute to my colleagues, but honestly, they are too numerous to name here, so allow me to confine myself to just the people who helped with this column.

First among equals, thanks to Maverick founder and for many years its editor-in-chief, Branko Brkic, whose adamant conviction that the sky is really now totally going to fall, never prevented him from being a pleasure and joy to work with.

Branko’s famously pessimistic outlook has conflicted with my rather happy one, and I honestly think the score on that front is about equal. Winter is coming, or has it come and gone? Whatever.

Specifically regarding this column, Branko not only loved the idea of an afternoon business note when I suggested it five years ago, but also later endorsed the idea that the note should be published as a stand-alone story too. The original idea was that I would write a short summary of what happened on the market that day and publish it “After the Bell” every weekday, as an introduction to our evening business newsletter.

What he didn’t realise, and indeed what I didn’t realise, is that I’m incapable of writing something so short, and the column got to take up more and more of my time as it developed into a kind of casual viewpoint, with some quick research and an irreverent demeanour. Honestly, I think only Daily Maverick would or could tolerate something as amorphous as this column has been.

But somewhat irritatingly, it has proved enduringly popular with the roughly 30,000 readers who have opened the column most weekdays for the past five years, so I got saddled with the wonderful discipline of writing at a speed and a frequency that has honestly been an absolute joy and, at times, a definitive pain in arse.

At one point, I managed to convince my fabulous colleagues Ray Mahlaka, Georgina Crouth and Ed Stoddard to shoulder some of the burden – but they subsequently cast off in their own dinghies, leaving me high and dry. But I remain grateful for their help, nevertheless.

The interesting thing about After the Bell is that for many years it was not edited – I just wrote it and sent it, which is frankly terrible journalistic practice. Branko’s point of view at the time was, well, people will blame you for the mistakes because it’s a named column, rather than Daily Maverick, so go to it.

After a time, production editor Krash King just couldn’t stand it any more, and took on the thankless burden of trying to reduce the huge number of spelling, grammatical and factual errors. I am, of course, eternally grateful to him and all the other editors of these columns over the years, some of whom remain very close. Thanks are also due to new Business Maverick editor Neesa Moodley, who has, for the past six months, shepherded the newsletter to readers. 

But my most enduring, most heartfelt thanks goes to the readers of the column who have been fabulously thoughtful, reactive, instructive and supportive of some views which at times have strayed, I’m proud to say, into the hyperbolic.

I’ve often been corrected, which I have honestly appreciated. And in all these years, I’ve only been informed that I’m comparable to a certain bodily orifice once. But I have had truly wonderful support and encouragement.

My favourite was a 72-year-old nun, who wrote to say she understands very little about business, but she does read and enjoy my column, looking forward to it with, nogal, a little frisson every afternoon. It’s a relief to know that I may have at least one person I can call on at the pearly gates.

I’m delighted to say the column will continue under the pen of Stephen Grootes, and honestly, I wish him the absolute best. It’s been a real privilege to be present in so many people’s minds for so long.

Please bear in mind I do now have my own publishing effort, Loose Canon, partly derived from the style and content I gravitated towards on this column.

And may I just say one last time…

Good investing. DM