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.
First runner-up was awarded to Pieter-Louis Myburgh of Daily Maverick for his investigation into suspicious property dealings involving the Independent Development Trust’s CEO Tebogo Malaka, culminating in a video “sting” operation that for the first time documented a top government official attempting to bribe a journalist to bury the story.
Second joint runners-up were Viewfinder’s Daneel Knoetze and New York Times Johannesburg bureau chief John Eligon for their investigation showing how police officers in South Africa still regularly use an apartheid-era suffocation torture method during interrogations. Despite the widespread use of torture within the police, implicated officers are rarely disciplined. The investigation was also featured on the front page of the New York Times.
Other award finalists were Dewald van Rensburg of amaBhungane for South Africa’s Bad Bet, a two-part investigation interrogating the behind-the-scenes reality of South Africa’s rapidly escalating online gambling crisis, and amaBhungane’s Azarrah Karrim for IDT Mistrust, an investigation into the IDT showing how the organisation was primed as a point of extraction of hundreds of millions of rands at the expense of infrastructure delivery.
Hosted annually by the Wits Centre for Journalism (WCJ), the 2026 Taco Kuiper Awards saw entries more than double compared to 2025, with a total of 47 submissions received across print, online and broadcast platforms.
“The entries were of an extremely high calibre this year, making judging extremely challenging,” said awards convenor and judge Beauregard Tromp at the ceremony.
“I am grateful to my fellow judges, veteran former CBS investigative reporter Sarah Carter, former judge on the supreme court of appeals Tom Cloete, and award-winning investigative journalist Khadija Sharife. These are strong-willed individuals embodying more than a century of experience.”
Tromp took the opportunity to thank the Valley Trust, sponsors of the awards, for its 20 years of investment in investigative journalism.
“We need strong, sustained and predictable support, more than ever now. We all know that this is not charity but rather an investment in a healthy democracy and a more prosperous country for all,” he said.
WCJ Director Dr Dinesh Balliah, who could not be at the event, said the awards exist to reaffirm the invaluable role journalists play in sustaining South Africa’s hard-won democracy.
“Your work, in the world of algorithms and AI, is set to become much more complicated and technical, and this alone reminds us of the irreplaceable role you play. These awards are a way of saying: we see you, we appreciate you, and we encourage you to keep on doing what you are doing.”
The WCJ was honoured to welcome climate justice activist and former executive director of Greenpeace Kumi Naidoo as keynote speaker, who addressed the urgency of the climate crisis and how journalists can adapt their storytelling to report on it meaningfully.
Taco Kuiper was a highly successful South African publisher who left a significant part of his estate to the promotion of investigative journalism, administered and supported through The Valley Trust in partnership with the Wits Centre for Journalism.