Calling all investigative journalists in South Africa – if you had strong work published in 2023 that revealed untold stories, held the powerful to account and questioned those in public and private life, you can again compete for the top prize of R200 000 in the 18th Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism. A second prize of R100 000 is also up for grabs.
The award can go to a journalist or team of journalists (which includes broadcast, online and photojournalists), and can be for a single story or a series of stories (please do not include pieces from earlier years, though where relevant they can be referred to in your motivation).
The motivation is extremely important, as it should ensure the judges are fully aware of the work that went into the story, risks taken, its originality, context and impact.
How to submit an entry:
Click here to download the Taco Kuiper Award Entry Form. Once completed, email to tkawards@journalism.co.za
Entries must include:
- An electronic copy of the entry material as published/broadcast. If the original is reduced in size it must be accompanied by a readable Word/PDF document version.
- Material that is not in English must be accompanied by an English translation or transcript.
- A 100-word biography and photo of each entrant.
- A high-res copy of the publication/broadcaster’s logo.
- A short motivation for the entry (maximum 500 words), including any background the judges should be aware of, an indication of the impact of the story and details of any significant challenge to the accuracy or fairness of the entry, such as published letters, corrections, retractions, formal complaints or continuing court cases.
- Broadcast entries must include a short video clip of the story for publicity purposes.
The cut-off time for entries is 2pm on 23 February, 2024. No late entries will be accepted, and entrants will receive an acknowledgement of their entry within 48 hours.
Questions and queries about the awards should be directed to tkawards@journalism.co.za or tkuiperawards@gmail.com.
The standard set at the 2023 awards was excellent. The joint winners were Ray Joseph of GroundUp for “Gaming the Lottery”, his investigation into corruption at the National Lottery Commission, and Jeff Wicks of News24 for “Silenced: Why Babita Deokaran was murdered”. The runners-up were Aron Hyman, Graeme Hosken and Tankiso Makhetha from TimesLive for their riveting investigation into the zama zama turf wars taking place across western Johannesburg, Mogale City and beyond.
Read the judges’ full remarks here.
The date of the 2024 award ceremony will be announced soon.
