Lukanyo Mnyanda, editor- in-chief of Business Day, has resigned. He leaves at the end May to join the Financial
Times in the UK. He is moving back to Edinburgh where he previously worked as a correspondent for Bloomberg before joining Business Day.
“Accepting Lukanyo’s resignation and seeing him leave to take up this role at Financial Times is not easy to accept. This is so because in the four years of his editorship and in the two years that I have worked closely with him, Lukanyo has raised the bar. Thanks to his leadership, we are on course to taking Business Day back to its rightful place – as the pre-eminent financial news service in this country,” said Pule Molebeledi, managing director for news and media, in a press release.
“But we also understand that he is a family man and the past four years have been difficult for him and his family – with him living in Johannesburg and them in Edinburgh. That is why we are excited that this opportunity will reunite him with his family. We wish him well and thank him from the bottom of our hearts for the sacrifices that he has made,” Molebeledi added.
Mnyanda joined Business Day as its editor in 2018 after working for Bloomberg – both in Johannesburg and London – since 2005. Before that he previously held the position of economics editor at Business Day and has also worked for the Sunday Times.
He said being editor of Business Day, where he started his career almost the day after finishing university, has been the greatest honour of his life. “I’m going to miss my colleagues here terribly, and I’m very proud for what we’ve achieved, not least surviving, and thriving, in the face of the unexpected challenges that came with the Covid-19 outbreak,” he said.
The process to find his replacement has already started. Tiisetso Motsoeneng, the deputy editor, will act until an editor is appointed.