Aakash Bramdeo

POST (The Voice & Heart Of The Community) is a popular newspaper in KZN and runs from a Wednesday to Sunday each week. There are roughly 50 000 copies of the paper distributed each week. Post has for many years been involved in KZN horseracing, first sponsoring the Golden Slipper and for the last thirteen years being part of the Grade 2 Merchants run at Greyville over six furlongs, under the lights. This is the last meeting at Greyville before the Vodacom Durban July and the course will be abuzz. WINNING FORM PUBLICATIONS caught up with Chief Editor AAKASH BRAMDEO who has taken over the reigns at Post since 1 November 2010. He is a well decorated journalist, who has worked for the SABC and has studied all over the world. He is an astute racing follower and fancies SPORTS COACH to claim the Post Merchants tonight.

What is your name and age? Aakash Bramdeo, and I am 38 years of age.

Where were you born? Durban.

Where do you live? Parlock (Durban).

Do you have a ‘nickname’? No.

Where is your favourite holiday destination? Mauritius.

What do you do in your free-time? Push cars around with my two and a half year old son Arik or read.

When and what made you decide to become a journalist? I made up my mind about journalism when I was at school. I didn’t want to be confined to one place and journalism gave me the opportunity to move around and experience life.

How was it working at SABC? Fantastic! I like the concept of a public broadcaster that is trying to make a positive contribution to developing our country. There is also a great group of people who work there.

On your return to the Post after 17 years, how did it feel to be home? I started my career as a cub reporter at the POST, so it was a case of coming home. There were many familiar faces and I settled in quickly.

How long have you been with the Post? About 18 months.

How important do you feel it is for there to sponsors of the big race days like the Post Merchants in the horse racing calendar? We are social beings and it is important to build partnerships. Sponsoring a big race day is not just about the racing, it is also about building relationships with people, so it is very important.

As the editor of the paper you have a lot of power to run the paper in the way you consider to be for the best. How high on your list of priorities is horse racing? Many of my readers have a passion for horse racing and as a result it is a priority in POST.

Most papers that had racing editors have dropped them. Will you again employ a racing editor to cover every aspect of racing on a daily basis? Newspapers run on tight budgets. It would be a nice to have one but highly unlikely. If it did happen I’d probably appoint myself as racing editor. It seems like a really fun beat to cover and certainly better than politics or crime.

Have you done any surveys, or had feedback from your readers, on how popular racing is with the reader of your paper? Yes, racing is almost as important as Manchester United or Liverpool.

Sponsoring a race as you do is very important but to really make an impact, to help re-establish racing as a premier  attraction in KZN, would you agree that more should be done on a weekly basis to keep racing in the public eye? I believe we do our bit to keep horse racing as a premier attraction in KZN. Right now we dedicate at least a page a week to covering racing events.

How long have you been involved in horse racing? I’m not much of a punter myself. In fact it seems any horse that I favour is sure to lose.

Which horse do you think will claim the Post Merchants tonight? SPORTS COACH.

Are you a betting man and if so, what is your favourite bet type? Win and place bet.

Who in your opinion are South Africa’s best trainer and jockey? Mike de Kock. In terms of jockey’s it is a toss-up between Anton Marcus and Anthony Delpech.

What is your early fancy for the Vodacom Durban July? It’s a toss-up between JACKSON and ILHA BELA.

On a personal note what is it that you would like to achieve with the Post which will make a meaningful and lasting difference? I want the newspaper to be seen as a leader in the community.

Lastly, but certainly not least. The saying is that “Behind every great man is an accomplished and great woman” Does that apply to you? No. But I’m not a great man yet!