SA online profile service Whoiswhosa shuts down

The online listing of the annual print publication of Who’s Who of Southern Africa that was launched in the mid of 2001 has been shutdown. Online profile owners who try to access the link since Wednesday 28th of March get the following message on screen:

Hi there, Who’s Who has always prided itself on well researched and curated profiles of South African personalities and captains of industry. In the information age the relevance of what we do has slowly diminished, and we have therefore made the tough decision to close our doors. We thank you for your support over the years. Farewell, The Who’s Who Team

The online Who’s Who of Southern Africa was created as an online resource that consists of that name and profiles of well known people born or living in the Southern African region. This listing includes noteworthy professionals, popular sports men and women, entertainers and politicians. For the purposes of the website the definition of the Southern African region was extended to include profiles of people from Angola, Zambia, Madagascar and Malawi.

The online resource was opened to the public in January 2010 to allow anyone 18 years or older living or born in the region to register on the site and create a profile of themselves. The original Who’s Whos are differentiated from the new members by a badge or ribbon located on the profile image. The website is used as an online research resource by the public, and as a networking and online reputation management platform for members.

The online resource has been used by a lot of business people in the Southern region and has served as a Vcard resources for years. Naspers or the WhoisWhosa team gave no reasons for the shutdown but sources reveal the business extension has not been resourceful has projected when implemented in 2001.

The Who’s Who of Southern Africa website is owned and managed by Naspers Limited. The  publication of the print version was halted in 2007, and the online resource discontinued in 2018. The Naspers group retains the marks and rights associated with the print and online publications.”