AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism is an investigative journalism organisation focusing primarily on exposing political corruption in South Africa and neighbouring countries. They say that their name means “dung beetles” in isiZulu, one of the indigenous languages of South Africa.[1] They claim they are “digging dung, fertilising democracy.”[2]
 | |
 | |
| Motto | Digging dung, fertilising democracy  |
|---|---|
| Established | 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Founders | Sam Sole, Stefaans Brümmer |
| Types | nonprofit organization |
| Country | South Africa |
| Budget | R9.7 million |
| Website | amabhungane |
Their “#GuptaLeaks” investigations have produced many stories over the years that exposed substantive political corruption in the South African government, recognised by several prestigious awards for investigative journalism. These reports suggested that the Gupta family had ”captured the state” through their friendship with then-President Jacob 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.
Controversies
editIn 2012 the founder and managing partner of amaBhungane, Sam Sole, was named in a document of the private intelligence firm Stratfor as one of their sources in South Africa. The spreadsheet was leaked as part of the Wikileaks Global Intelligence Files. Sole never publicly commented on the leak but his editor Nic Dawes, who was also named as having met Stratfor analyst Mark Schroeder, denied that the newspaper Mail and Guardian had 'made a deal' with Stratfor and that Sole "met Mr Schroeder briefly at a public debate in Pietermaritzburg July 2008 and has had no further contact with him".[5]
Budget
editTheir budget for two representative years is summarised in the following table.
| year | Rand (millions) | US$ (millions)[6] | US$ per capita |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 9.7[7] | 0.59 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 7.4[8] | 0.56 | 0.01 |
Board members
editAs of 2022 the non-executive board members of amaBhungane were Tawana Kupe, Sithembile Mbete, Sisonke Msimang, Angela Quintal and Nicholas Dawes.[9]
Awards
editThe 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.”[10] 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.[11]
- 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.[12]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ amaBhungane, Wikidata Q23927926
- ^ 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.
- ^ "amaBhungane - Paradise Papers: SA names aplenty in massive new tax haven leak". amabhungane.co.za. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
- ^ Dawes, Nic (27 February 2012). "Stratfor: M&G made no deal". Mail and Guardian. Retrieved 27 February 2012.
- ^ using annual averages of data from South Africa / U.S. Foreign Exchange Rate, Federal Reserve Economic Data, Wikidata Q106731253.
- ^ amaBhungane center for investigative journalism annual financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2020 (PDF), amaBhungane, 31 March 2020, Wikidata Q106730655.
- ^ amaBhungane center for investigative journalism annual financial statements for the year ending 31 March 2017 (PDF), amaBhungane, 31 March 2017, Wikidata Q106730629.
- ^ "Statements". 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- ^ "#GuptaLeaks team wins SA's biggest journalism award". University of the Witwatersrand. 19 March 2018. Wikidata Q56219686.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Susan Comrie is the 2016 Sanlam Financial Journalist of the Year". Sanlam. 29 June 2017. Wikidata Q56219959.