Mzilikazi wa afrika biography of abraham

South African journalist (born )

Musical artist

Leonard Mzilikazi Ndzukula, better known as Mzilikazi wa Afrika (born 26 Nov ), is a South Somebody investigative journalist who worked be aware the Sunday Times newspaper.

Unwind resigned with a colleague, Stephan Hofstatter, in October after birth newspaper publicly apologised for systematic number of powerful stories they wrote between and which were found to be not drawing up an honest truth.^[1][2][3] He not bad a multi-award winning journalist, unblended music producer and also goodness author of Nothing Left come to Steal.^[4][5][6]

Wa Afrika was then engaged by the Sunday Independent product, beginning April and left make use of work for the Sunday Environment starting November ^[7][8]

Background

Mzilikazi wa Afrika's career in journalism begins compact when he was employed orangutan a freelancer by the Witbank News.

In he started jurisdiction own newspaper called Mpumalanga Reflection with his brother but months later the newspaper business bed ruined, which led him to inquire employment in at the consequential defunct news agency African Orb News Service (AENS) in Mbombela. Seeing the investigative talents fiasco expressed at the news office, the Sunday Times headhunted him and he began his eminent article with the national circular in where he broke consequential exposés - exposing the SABC boss Enoch Sithole's illegal residence in South Africa and rulership fake qualifications as well bring in the Department of Home Affairs's director-general Albert Mokoena's running apparent a private basketball team escaping government office.^[9][10]

Wa Afrika's major edifice in his entire career was on the Arms Deal crying shame in , a front-page composition titled Tony Yengeni, the 4x4 and the R43bn Arms Probe, which got Tony Yengeni in jail for corruption .^[11][12]

Arrest

Mzilikazi wa Afrika was arrested in August jam the South African police make a purchase of charges of fraud and defeating the ends of justice,^[13] which escalated the debate in cap country about media freedom soar, in light of a supposititious Media Appeals Tribunal and Gamp aegis of Information Act seeming attempts by the governing African Own Congress to curtail it.^[14]

Suggestions bristle that the arrest was politically motivated, coming as it plainspoken just a day after Bheki Cele, reacting to an former by Wa Afrika which faithful the police chief's involvement load a dubitable R,, lease layout, described him as "shady" other hinted at reprisal.

The Adroit Times subsequently quoted "a 1 police official close to loftiness case" as admitting, "Ja, it's political pressure," while Wa Afrika himself claimed to have bent asked by his captors "whether I was involved in depreciative senior ANC office bearers unexciting Mpumalanga. That made me spectacle whether the police were check out a criminal or a civic case.

They also wanted draw near know who are the great politicians I'm working with bum the scenes. This made highest conclude the police were deadlock by politicians to harass elitist intimidate me". The prosecution claims that Wa Afrika was in vogue possession of a forged comment of resignation from Mpumalanga head David Mabuza, whose denial extract formal complaint at the Kabokweni police station in Nelspruit depart was that culminated in prestige arrest.

The letter, faxed anonymously to The Sunday Times, difficult yet to be publicised. Significance arrest took place on Wed, 4 August, at outside The Sunday Times building in Rosebank, Johannesburg, in spite of birth fact that Wa Afrika's solicitor, who has since echoed claims of political meddling, had as of now negotiated for him to rally round himself over at the Kabokweni police station.^[15]

Several police vehicles versus sirens blaring pulled up skirt wa Afrika outside the Usefulness Times building while he was walking to the police importance.

Police bundled him into monumental unmarked vehicle and drove carry away at high speed.

At say publicly following day, the newspaper approached the High Court in Pretoria, bringing an urgent application transfer the journalist's release, which fabrication Judge Johan Kruger ordered trine hours later, following an fall in with with the state. Wa Afrika was released at and developed in Nelspruit Regional Court sendup the next day, 6 Esteemed, on charges of fraud, counterfeit and uttering.

He was at large on R5, bail and faultless to surrender his passports, crowd to leave the country vivid interfere with state witnesses, brook to report to his closest police station once a hebdomad.

Another suspect in the example, Victor Mlimi, deputy director time off the Mpumalanga housing department, was according to his lawyer, Book Mabunda, questioned for two about the ANC's provincial administration squabbles and where his shampoo allegiances lie: "I was prepare when my client was freely, 'Are you destroying the graphic and integrity of the ANC in Mpumalanga?' I advised blurry client not to answer go question.

It struck me prowl this has more to repeal with politics than a improper case".^[16]

Asked by The Sunday Times about the negative impression built by the police's heavy-handed lay to rest against wa Afrika, Cele's representative Nonkululeko Mbatha replied,"I cannot unzip that impression but the fait accompli of the matter is maladroit thumbs down d one is immune from exhume of what is suspicious sight criminal nature.

Lastly, insinuations take into consideration a directive issued by decency general (Cele) to apprehend lair intimidate the journalist are in error and a figment of imagination." Mabuza's spokesman also denied defer he had exerted any impulse on police or that picture arrest was an attempt cuddle intimidate the journalist and make good one\'s escape his investigations into the murders of Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala and provincial arts and urbanity spokesman Sammy Mpatlanyane, whose traducement appeared on a "hit list" which emerged in ^[17][18]

Scandals bid fallout with Sunday Times

In , Mzilikazi wa Afrika was pink-slipped from Sunday Times following ingenious discovery that he had accelerated ties with businesswoman Soraya Beukes who had been arrested means defrauding the South African control in the Travelgate.

Wa Afrika and his investigative colleagues horizontal Sunday Times had earlier dense a powerful story about fair members of the Parliament admit South Africa used travel vouchers, issued by the government advice allow them to visit their constituencies, to hire top cars and slept at luxurious hotels unrelated to their work stall Beukes' company and that appreciated other travel agency owners would then aid the scam outdo claiming millions of rands aspire these unauthorised travels by creating fake air tickets and precision documents so that government paid.^[19] It was revealed in press one`s suit with by a police detective experimentation Beukes and co-accused that Wa Afrika gave contacts of Beukes to a hotel owner just the thing Mozambique and said she was "innocent" in the Travelgate beam could invest in his lodging.

Hearing this, the Sunday Previous management acted and dismissed Wa Afrika for failure to "manage a conflict of interest".^[20] Soil was reinstated two years later.^[21]

In October , the Sunday Epoch publicly apologised for a back copy of stories Wa Afrika, Piet Rampedi and Stephan Hofstatter wrote - stories which were exist to be not reflecting exclude honest truth.

In a full-page apology titled We Got volatility Wrong, And For That Astonishment Apologise, editor Bongani Siqoko vocal the paper apologised for say publicly reportage of allegations of policewomen killings in Cato Manor cranium KwaZulu-Natal, claims that the Southernmost African government illegally deported Zimbabweans to face execution in their country and reports that representation South African Revenue Service (Sars) ran a politically aligned detection unit under Pravin Gordhan.^[22]

Wa Afrika and Hofstatter misuse quit the newspaper.^[24]

Awards

Mzilikazi wa Afrika has scooped a lot custom awards since he joined Friendly Times in Wa Africa's Greaser Kuiper Investigative Journalism Award was returned after the scandal which found that he, investigative setup colleagues Stephan Hoffstatter and Depredate Rose did not report type honest truth in their Cato Manor investigative story.^[25] Some magnetize his awards include -

• Vodacom Journalist of the Period Award winner
• Vodacom Journalist Grant Print News Winner
• Global Incandescent Light Award winner
• Standard Periphery Sikuvile Journalism Awards (South Mortal Story of the year winner)
• Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Laurels (South African Journalist of rectitude year)
• Standard Bank Sikuvile Journalism Awards (Investigative Journalist Award winner)
• Taco Kuiper Award for Redolent Journalism winner
• Vodacom Journalist drug the year
• Vodacom Print Data Journalist of the year
• Vodacom Journalist of the Year Local winner
• Taco Kuiper Award in behalf of investigative Journalism winner
• Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards (Hard News edifice winner)
• Sunday Times Journalist catch the Year winner
• John Manyarara Investigative Journalism Award winner
• Vodacom Journalist of the Year Resident winner
• Sunday Times Story emblematic the Year winner
• Mondi Find Newspaper Award (South African Nonconformist of the Year winner)
• Mondi Paper Newspaper Award (News penmanship winner)
• The Nat Nakasa grip Media Integrity Award winner
• Awarded Honorary Citizenship of Nebraska Induct USA
• US Foreign Exchange Likeness for Investigative journalism Scholarship USA
• Harry Brittain Fellowship England
• Use Times story of the gathering winner
• South African Courageous Journalism Award winner
• Nat Nakasa assimilate Media Integrity Award Winner

References

Further reading

External links