Umjindi – Elukwatini Guardian

The Project (Umjindi-Elukwatini Guardian) is a Small Commercial Pint project, which is distributed in the neighbouring communities of Umjindi (Barberton and Elukwatini). Both communities combined have a population of roughly 200 000+/-. However, while Umjindi (Barberton) can be described as semi-rural, Elukwatini is predominantly rural.

The employment levels are on par with national statistics of 25 to 30 % unemployment especially among the youth, however both communities have thriving retail sectors and are homes to mining, especially Umjindi (Barberton).

Prior to Umjindi – Elukwatini Guardian, both communities did not have the service of a locally focused print publication, nor digital. This led to the community relying a lot on social media, unfortunately these platforms can sometimes carry a lot of fake news. Umjindi-Elukwatini Guardian is a monthly 12-page tabloid newspaper and is also complimented by a digital version. Since it started publishing, it has been carrying a lot of stories about health matters, which has helped the communities to learn more about the Covid 19 pandemic.