AmaBhungane

AmaBhungane is an investigative journalism organization focusing primarily on exposing political corruption in South Africa and neighboring countries. They say that their name means “dung beetles” in isiZulu, the primary indigenous language of South Africa.[1] They claim they are “digging dung, fertilizing democracy.”[2]

AmaBhungane
Typesnonprofit organization 
MottoDigging dung, fertilizing democracy 
Established2010  (11 years ago)
FoundersStephen (Sam) Sole, Stefaans Brümmer 
CountrySouth Africa 
Websiteamabhungane.org 

Their “#GuptaLeaks” investigations have produced many stories over the years that exposed substantive political corruption in the South African government, recognized by several prestigious awards for investigative journalism. These reports suggested that the Gupta family had ”captured the state” through their friendship with then-President Zuma and seem to have contributed to 2016 electoral defeats by the ANC in South Africa's largest cities, the defeat of Zuma as president of the African National Congress on 18 December 2017 and then to Zuma's resignation as head of state on 14 February 2018.[3] They've also contributed to the Paradise Papers exposé[4] and many other reports relating to the South African political economy.

Awards

The following include only a few of the awards presented to amaBhungane and members of their team:

  • 19 March 2018: “19 journalists from AmaBhungane, the Daily Maverick and News24, won the 2017 Taco Kuiper Award for their excellent investigative journalism into the Gupta email leaks, also known as the #GuptaLeaks.”[5] Taco Kuiper is reportedly South Africa's biggest investigative journalism award.
  • 16 November 2017: AmaBhungane shared the 2017 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award in the financial / economic category with the Daily Maverick and News24 for the #GuptaLeaks series.[6]
  • 28 June 2017: Susan Comrie and Craig McKune, investigators from AmaBhungane, won the 2016 Sanlam Financial Journalist of the Year and Online Financial Journalist of the Year awards, respectively.[7]

See also

Notes
  1. South Africa has 11 official languages, 9 indigenous languages plus English and Afrikaans. Zulu is the first language of 23 percent of the population, and is the most common first language. English is the primary language of government. See The Economist, "Tongues under threat", 22 January 2011, p. 58.
  2. amaBhungane, Wikidata Q23927926
  3. Norimitsu Onishi (14 February 2018). "Jacob Zuma Resigns as South Africa's President". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Wikidata Q56221018. AmaBhungane was not mentioned in this New York Times report, but amaBhungane's leadership in exposing the political corruption that led to ANC electoral losses and Zuma's resignation is documented in the numerous awards they have received for this work.
  4. "amaBhungane - Paradise Papers: SA names aplenty in massive new tax haven leak". amabhungane.co.za. Archived from the original on 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  5. "#GuptaLeaks team wins SA's biggest journalism award". University of the Witwatersrand. 19 March 2018. Wikidata Q56219686.
  6. National winners announced for 2017 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards, 16 November 2017, Wikidata Q55753212 "National winners announced for 2017 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards". Daily Maverick. 17 November 2017. Wikidata Q56220632.
  7. "Susan Comrie is the 2016 Sanlam Financial Journalist of the Year". Sanlam. 29 June 2017. Wikidata Q56219959.
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