Dewald van Rensburg of South African investigative journalism unit amaBhungane has won the 2025 AIJC African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award for his series of investigations titled “City of Gold”, laying bare in meticulous detail how the underground financial sector and illicit gold trade tick.
Van Rensburg took home the top prize at a gala ceremony held in Braamfontein, Johannesburg last night.
Part of a larger investigative series titled “The Laundry”, Van Rensburg’s reporting reveals the staggering failure of regulators to police the financial system, as well as corruption at financial institutions that facilitated the operation of a vast illegal gold industry that runs on tax fraud.
Van Rensburg’s work showed how this dark corner of the gold “industry” grew into a multi-billion rand drain on the fiscus – and how the key role-players engaged in financial maneuvering to launder their funds offshore.
Second place went to The Gambia’s Mustapha K. Darboe of The Republic for his investigation “The Assets of Former Dictator Go for a Song”. In December 2016, The Gambia removed dictator Yahya Jammeh. After 22 years in power, his wealth was estimated at more than a billion dollars – the total public debt of the Gambia as well as its total GDP that year.
After Jammeh’s fall, all his assets were forfeited to the state. Darboe’s investigation exposed how the process of recovering the loot was marred with alleged corruption, with officials of the current administration selling assets to friends, family and themselves at prices which were only a fraction of their worth.
Third place runners-up were Ghanaian journalists Seth Bokpe and Edmund Agyemang Boateng of The Fourth Estate for “Forest Invasion: The Scramble by PEPs to Acquire Mining Licences in Ghana’s Forest Reserve”. The investigation revealed that while President Nana Akufo-Addo’s government claimed it was fighting illegal mining, they would go on to enact a law motivating politicians to apply for and receive mining leases in some of Ghana’s prized forests, including globally significant biodiversity areas.
Convener of judges Gwen Lister praised the high quality of entries this year. “Myself and fellow judges, themselves all acclaimed journalists, Hamadou Tidiane Sy, Senegal; Maggie Michaels, Egypt; Fernando Lima, Mozambique, and Beauregard Tromp, South Africa, felt that the entries reflected not just strong resilience on the part of African journalists, but also showed the emergence of promising newcomers on the horizon of investigative journalism.” The great value of investigative journalism is that it uncovers malfeasance and holds the culprits to account through incontestable, hard facts, she added.
“With ever dwindling resources and with accolades few and far between, investigative journalism can take its toll on you, the wonderful people doing this work,” said Lister at the awards. “But we urge you to stay the course. You may not get many plaudits, but for every person, household, community and nation that you help, your contribution is without measure.”
Editor-in-Chief of the Nation Media Group Dr Joe Ageyo delivered the keynote address and used the opportunity to praise journalists on the continent for the brave, tireless work they carry out in pursuit of truth and accountability.
“The enemies of truth will always be with us. They will threaten, sue and surveil, but let us keep digging, muckraking, and shining the light. As long as we do, the darkness will never win,” said Ageyo.
The African Investigative Journalism awards, supported by Absa Africa, are held annually to recognise and celebrate excellence in investigative journalism on the continent. The awards are part of the African Investigative Journalism Conference, hosted by the Wits Centre for Journalism.