Celebrating the very best of South African investigative journalism at the 2026 Taco Kuiper Awards

Jeff Wicks of News24 won the 2026 Taco Kuiper Award for his explosive book The Shadow State: Why Babita Deokaran had to die, an investigation into the assassination of whistleblower Deokaran that reveals a vast web of criminal syndicates and corrupt government officials extracting billions of rands meant for patients in Gauteng’s public hospitals.

Wicks accepted the trophy for this vital body of investigative work at a milestone gala ceremony celebrating the 20th edition of the Taco Kuiper Awards, held in Johannesburg on 27 March.

Read more here.

Webinar Recording — Breaking Barriers: A Study of People With Disabilities in the South African Media Industry

A new study, co-authored by WCJ Director Dr Dinesh Balliah and journalist Palesa Manaleng, centres on the experiences of people with disabilities working in the South African media industry. 

In this launch webinar, Balliah and Manaleng are joined by language and literacy practitioner Jackie Mondi to discuss the report and its findings.

Click here to view the webinar. 

Download the report here.

SACOMM 2026 call for abstracts now open

The 2026 South African Communications Association (SACOMM) conference theme is Asserting the Human in the Time of Technofeudalism: Global South Perspectives. Under this theme, scholars are invited to interrogate how the human is being redefined and reasserted in the emerging order of technofeudalism or regimes of capital accumulation.

Abstracts will be peer-reviewed, and accepted papers will be presented at the 2026 conference either in a traditional presentation format or as part of a panel. 

Follow this link for details on the theme, and to submit abstracts no later than 30 April. 

The Wits Centre for Journalism will host SACOMM 2026 at Wits University from 9 - 11 September.

DEADLINE ALERT — #AIJC2026 call for proposals close soon

Journalists, media professionals, trainers and scholars around the world still have time to submit session and speaker proposals for this year's African Investigative Journalism Conference, taking place at the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications in Nairobi, Kenya from 10 – 12 November 2026.

To ensure the WCJ presents the most interesting, urgent work and journalists on the continent, we invite you to suggest speakers, panels, themes or training sessions that would elevate the conference this year.

Follow the link to find out more.

Gambian journalist’s AIJY award-winning investigation leads to parliamentary inquiry indicting officials in sale of former dictator’s assets

Gambian journalist Mustapha K. Darboe’s meticulous investigation into the murky sale of assets belonging to the country’s former dictator Yahya Jammeh won him the runner-up prize at the highly contested third edition of the AIJC’s African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award last year.

Published by The Republic in April 2025, the investigation has since had significant national impact, prompting a months-long parliamentary inquiry which has now officially confirmed Darboe’s findings that the process meant to fund reparations for victims of Jammeh’s rule after his exile had been riddled with corruption and irregularities.

Read more here.

Wits Centre for Journalism and E-jicom host Africa-China relations workshop

Journalists from Senegal, Mali, Togo, DR Congo, Cameroon, Guinea-Conakry and Cote d’Ivoire joined an Africa-China workshop hosted by the Wits Centre for Journalism in Dakar, Senegal on 24-26 March.

The workshop, Media and Africa–China Relations in a Shifting World Order, was facilitated by E-jicom (Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme des Métiers de l’Internet et de la Communication) and convened to explore ways to understand, analyse and tell the story of Africa’s political and economic interactions with China.

Read more here.

VOW FM provides haircuts to the homeless on Human Rights Day

VOW 88.1 (Voice of Wits) FM, together with Legends Barber and Pick n Pay, provided free haircuts and essential care packs to homeless individuals in Braamfontein for Human Rights Day. Held on March 20 at Wits University, the initiative, supported by the Braamfontein Improvement District, focused on restoring dignity, promoting hygiene, and uplifting community members in the area.

• News24 is looking for a journalist to join its team in Gqeberha, who will focus on reporting within the Nelson Mandela Bay region. At least three years’ experience in a mainstream newsroom required. Deadline: 7 April. Click here for details.

• Pulitzer Center invites local media or radio outlets in East, Southern, and West Africa to submit proposals to implement participatory radio programs inspired by Pulitzer Center-supported stories. Deadline: 15 April. Click here for details.

• The Thomson Foundation’s Art of Storytelling is a free course on how to write news stories in an effective and engaging way using techniques employed by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ewen MacAskill and other journalists around the world. Click here for details.