Veteran South African Investigative Journalist to Speak

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Editor Mondli Makhanya has been behind some of South Africa’s most hard-hitting investigations of South African President Jacob Zuma. On Thursday, Feb. 14, Makhanya will speak at Northwestern University about the Zuma presidency and the role of the media in South Africa.

“Liberating South Africa and its Media Anew” will take place at 4 p.m. in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, 1870 Campus, on the University’s Evanston campus. Free and open to the public, the event and an exhibit in the McCormick Tribune Center lobby celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications’ South Africa residency program.

Medill Professor Douglas Foster, author of “After Mandela: The Struggle for Freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa,” will moderate Thurday’s program. Foster and Medill Professor Loren Ghiglione co-direct Medill’s South Africa program, which to date has provided 10-week journalism residencies in Johannesburg and Cape Town to approximately 100 undergraduates.

As a journalist, Makhanya has been instrumental in opposing government attempts to curb media freedoms through statutory regulation and secrecy legislation. He is currently writing a book about Zuma’s rise to power and the impact his presidency has had. 

Makhanya was editor of the Mail & Guardian when that paper revealed the Zuma’s involvement in massive corruption. He was editor of the Sunday Times when it broke a story about rape charges against Zuma.

The exhibit in the McCormick Tribune Center lobby tells the story of the South Africa program at Medill, and includes a video loop with approximately 25 examples of student reporting from South Africa.

For more information about the Feb. 14 event, email j-rangel@northwestern.edu or call (847) 467-0726.