Mastering Names, Titles, and Officeholders

Style

Names

Always use the full name of the person you are writing about in your first paragraph. For example; Jacob Zuma. Thereafter, just a surname will do.
The exception is unless you are writing about people who are related. For example, if you are writing about Duduzane and Jacob, you can use names.  
However, avoid using names too often. Use “Zuma’s son, the former president”.

Additionally, regarding prominent persons with birth ties to South Africa, always indicate it in the excerpt and/or intro paragraph, as a compound adjective or descriptor. Additionally, try to localise it further, by adding a specific city or town (Pretoria, Durban, Bloemfontein etc) associated with the person such as:

 “The South Africa-born Elon Musk said he would be charging $8 for verification on Twitter” OR “Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, announced he would be charging $8 for verification on Twitter.”

Notable people are (but not limited to):

Trevor Noah
Elon Musk
DJ Black Coffee
Charlize Theron
Arnold Vosloo
Roger Federer (born in Switzerland to a South African mother)

Names of brands and entities

When writing our articles, we must adhere to a brand or entity’s preferred spelling and style of their name. It’s important for consistency in our articles. For instance:

ISUZU should be written in all caps
Mercedes-Benz is hyphenated
Beyoncé uses an e-acute (é) at the end
Twitter is now known as X. For clarity readers, add “formerly known as Twitter”,    “Twitter, now known as X…” and other variations.

If you are unsure, Google it and check the entity’s website. The preferred spelling and style should be there. Also, check how it is overwhelmingly spelt and stylised by the majority of publications.

Pronouns and descriptors as a publication. It is important to not unnecessarily offend people and their chosen identities. As such, when working on articles, be cognizant of the diverse world we live in. This means you must cross-check and ascertain which pronouns and gender identities people prefer.

Some people prefer to be referred to as he (him) or she (her), and others with the gender-neutral third-person pronoun, they/them.

Please also note that as The South African, we refer to people in our copy as men and women (20 years and older), children, boys, girls, teenagers (ages 13 to 19), toddlers, the elderly (any person 60 years and older) and other designations unique to human beings.

We do not refer to people as males and females, the way the SA Police Service and other institutions do. Females and males are only acceptable in articles that deal specifically with biology and other scientific fields such as genealogy, genetics and reproduction, among others.

Titles

There is no need to refer to high-ranking people as “Mr or Ms” and no need for Mr Ramaphosa or Ms  May.
Nicknames can be used sparingly, JZ, Juju, Mama Action, etc, but only after the full name has been used first.
Military and police titles are not abbreviated and should be capitalised: General Siphiwe Nyanda; Lieutenant-Colonel John Smith; Major John Smith.
Do not use honorary degrees. Do not use the title Dr unless it is directly relevant.
Initials instead of first names are used in rare cases, for example, OR Tambo. Otherwise, the person’s first name is given when he or she is mentioned the first time.
In general, titles are uppercase and job descriptions are lowercase.  
The titles of the following are to be in upper case when they immediately precede names: heads of state (President Cyril Ramaphosa, but the president); government ministers and deputies (Deputy  President David Mabuza; US Vice-President Mike Pence, etc).  
Military and police ranks are also capped when they precede names, as are judges, judge presidents,  chief justices and advocates, as well as clergy (Pope Francis, Archbishop Desmond Tutu).  
Also upper case when used with names are: Professor Chris Barnard, Sir Richard Luyt, Lord  Hathaway and Queen Elizabeth II.
Former: A title that an individual formerly held is lowercase if used before the person‟ ‘s name: former president Nelson Mandela.  
Lower case, even with names: ambassadors, attorneys-general, auditors-general, chief whips,  commissioners, comrades (comrade Chris Hani), consuls, consuls general, councillors, deans,  editors, first ladies, managing directors, mayors, premiers, prosecutors, public protectors, rectors,  Reserve Bank governors, secretary-generals, secretaries of state, superintendents, town clerks and university chancellors.

Officeholders

When referred to merely by their office, not by their name, officeholders are lowercase:

● the chairperson of South African Airways
● the foreign secretary
● minister of home affairs
● the president of the United States
● the prime minister
● the speaker
● the treasury secretary
● executive mayor
● mayor
● premier
● president
The only exceptions are a few titles that would look unduly peculiar without capitals (and a few exalted people), such as the Dalai Lama, the Aga Khan, God and the Prophet.