[5] The Cape Argus was founded on 3 January 1857, by the partners Saul Solomon, journalist Richard William Murray ("Limner") and the MP Bryan Henry Darnell.

Saul Solomon was a radical supporter of multi-racial democracy, women's rights and the local "responsible government" movement; while his two partners were virulently pro-imperialist.

He was immensely influential in building and shaping the company, which quickly became the leading newspaper of the Cape, overtaking the "Commercial Advertiser" of John Fairbairn.

Professor Noble, who was also the co-editor of the well-known Cape Monthly Magazine, died suddenly in 1875, and Solomon replaced him with the radical liberal Irishman Patrick McLoughlin.

While popular with the locally elected Cape government, McLoughlin angered the British authorities with his anti-imperialist views.

In retaliation for the criticism, Sprigg's government cancelled all printing contracts with the Argus, awarding them instead to political allies from Grahamstown (who charged several times the price, and consistently failed to deliver the work).

True to its roots in Saul Solomon's liberalism, the paper was a prominent voice of opposition against the dominant National Party during the Apartheid years.