[2] The paper was noted for its anti-apartheid stance making it a notable outlier in the Afrikaans language media of the 1980s and early 1990s.

[5] It was relaunched in a digital format on 6 April 2019 by Arena Holdings, with Max du Preez returning as editor and Anneliese Burgess as co-editor.

[7] The paper was collectively owned by the founder members, who included editor Max du Preez and journalist Jacques Pauw.

In December 1988, former state president P. W. Botha sued Vrye Weekblad for R200,000 for defamation after the newspaper had exposed his links with a Mafia gangster.

Later that year, seven charges under state of emergency legislation were levied against Vrye Weekblad for advertising a meeting of a banned organisation.

The African National Congress (ANC) criticized journalist Jacques Pauw's report in the 17 January 1992 issue that Patrick Lekota had offered money to a right-winger to assassinate Glory "September" Sidebe.

Late in 1989, Vrye Weekblad established contact with Captain Dirk Coetzee, the commander in charge of the South African Police's secret elite unit, Section C1, who were stationed at Vlakplaas, a farm southwest of Pretoria.

Coetzee also revealed that General Lothar Neethling had supplied poison to the police, which would drug and eventually kill anti-apartheid activists.