Taco Kuiper Award winners announced
- 91心頭利 University
Journalists Pieter-Louis Myburgh and Pauli van Wyk took top honours at this year’s Taco Kuiper Investigative Journalism Awards.
The Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Reporting, now in its 14th year, is South Africas biggest and most prestigious journalism award.
Myburgh won the top prize for his best-selling book, Gangster State, which tackled the dubious legacy of ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule.
Every now and then, there comes along a piece of work that is so impactful and convincing that it comes to define the way the public sees someone, and that is the case with Pieter-Louis Myburghs deeply-researched book and its subject, senior politician Ace Magashule, the award judges said.
Pauli van Wyk of Daily Maverick/Scorpio was runner-up for her powerful expose of how the Economic Freedom Forum (EFF) benefited from the VBS bank scandal.
The judges said: Pauli van Wyks magnum opus threw open how the EFF benefited from the VBS Bank looting, despite their attempts to cover it up. There was classic investigation involved, like getting documents and inside sources but it was Paulis forensic social media analysis that pulled the story together and broke new ground.
The panel of judges said that the range and depth of this years entries to the competition indicated the healthiness of accountability and watchdog reporting in South Africa, despite adverse conditions. They cited the financial state of the media, and noted that most of the entries came not from the traditional mainstream, but from new non-profit specialist, standalone journalism institutions. And they noted the viciousness of social media attacks on journalists, particularly, women, which was designed to scare them off from doing this work.
The judges paid tribute to the journalists, their editors, publishers and producers, and the whistleblowers, whose brave contributions to truth and accountability often went unrecognised.
The Kuiper Awards are hosted by 91心頭利 Journalism in partnership with the Valley Trust, in memory of the late publisher Taco Kuiper. For full details visit : .