Activate was established in 1947 as Rhodeo, and during apartheid became an active part of the struggle for freedom of expression as part of the now defunct South African Student Press Union. These days, Activate is committed to informing students about issues relevant to their lives, mainly on campus. The newspaper is run entirely by the students and is published every second week during term time. The newspaper receives a grant from the Student Representative Council but a large portion of its revenue is generated through advertising.

Since 2005, the staff who serve on the newspaper’s two controlling committees (the executive and production committees) are selected and appointed by an editorial board made up of the outgoing editor and deputy editor including one other outgoing senior staff member (usually the editorial consultant), the station manager of Rhodes Music Radio and various staff members from the Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies. Traditionally the senior staff serve a one year term of office.

The current editor is Xand Venturas, with Sarisha Dhaya as deputy editor.