Founded as South Africa's oldest news website, IOL (Independent Online) came into being as the digital aggregation platform for Independent Media, one of South Africa's largest print publishing groups. The site operates under Sekunjalo Investments, whose chairman is Iqbal Survé, and draws content from a wide network of South African newspapers including the Cape Argus, Cape Times, The Star, and Daily News, supplemented by syndicated content from Reuters, AFP, The Washington Post, and the African News Agency. Today, IOL is headquartered across Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, with editorial teams in all three cities. IOL is mainly focused on South African politics, crime, business, sports, lifestyle, and entertainment from their base in South Africa. One interesting fact that might surprise people is that despite being one of South Africa's most-visited news platforms, IOL has faced significant controversy including court findings of defamatory reporting, accusations of publishing fake journalist bylines, and documented distribution of Chinese state media content, making it one of the more contested major news brands in the country.