Spotlight

Darryl Accone Below is a list of participants including journalists, country representatives, authors and observers who attended the seminar on promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press, Windhoek in 1991 where the Declaration of Windhoek was produced and signed. Country Participants Algeria Omar Belhouchet Mayouf Zoubir Souissi Angola Joaquim Pinto Andrade Benin Ismaёl Yves Soumanou Thomas Megnassan Botswana Methaetsile Leepile Burkina Faso Albert Mbonerane Cameroon Pius N. Njawe...

Thapelo Mokoatsi Clements Kadalie, known for being the first black national trade unionist in Southern Africa, was more than a labour activist. He has been described by Henry Mitchell, a young historian currently completing his PhD research on Kadalie, as a mediator, interpreter and broker between diverse publics, advocating for workers’ rights.

Thapelo Mokoatsi Founder and financier of Abantu Batho – Swazi Queen-Mother Labotsibeni Mdluli was a force to be reckoned with. Queen Labotsibeni Mdluli was born in 1858 at eLuhlekweni northern Swaziland (now known as Eswatini) during the reign of King Mswati II who was in power for 25 years between 1840 and 1865.

Phindile Xaba Apollonia Mathia was a rare gem – a women’s rights activist and journalist – who fought tirelessly before South Sudan’s liberation from the Khartoum regime. She defied all odds in the turbulent post-conflict region, fought hard for a free media, advocated for women’s voices to be heard and used the media as a tool to advance gender equality. Starting out as a radio reporter, Mathia progressed to become a print journalist. Mathia survived the turbulent political years and had the...

Zubeida Jaffer and Sibusiso Tshabalala Sol Plaatje cannot give us all the answers, but his works teach us two indispensable lessons. First, to be a humanitarian it is not necessary to efface and extinguish one’s own cultural identity and heritage. Second in honouring one’s own language and history it is entirely unnecessary to dishonour the language and history of anyone else. Kader Asmal  - Foreword to Plaatje's Native Life In South Africa Solomon Tshekiso Plaatje was a journalist...

Thapelo Mokoatsi Allan Kirkland was an influential African intellectual in the early 20th century, and through his editorship at Izwi Labantu and leadership in SA Native Convention he amplified the movement towards liberating Africans. Allan Kirkland Soga, aka AK Soga, born on November 20 1861 in the Cape Colony. The youngest son of the legendary Tiyo Soga…

Phindile Xaba Writer and journalist Helen Nontando “Noni” Jabavu was a pioneer in many fields. She was the first black South African woman to publish autobiographies. In a remarkable career, she studied music, was a prolific writer, had a stint as a radio host for the BBC and worked as a film technician, semi-skilled engineer and oxyacetylene welder, working on bomber engine parts during the Second World War. Helen Nontando Jabavu was born on August 20 1919 into a family of literary figures...

Phindile Xaba Apart from having been the first president of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe was a Pan-Africanist who revolutionised the West African newspaper industry. Like most African journalists who were propelled into the media space by the liberation struggles against colonisers, Dr Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, also known as “Zik” was no exception. Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, were all activists before they became journalists and subsequently...

Phindile Xaba Hilary Teague’s struggle for Liberia’s independence from the American Colonisation Society (ACS) is one that may have fallen through the cracks of history, but like his resilience it has emerged from the shadows over time. Hilary Teague is being celebrated in contemporary times as the Father of Liberia’s independence and the foremost pioneer of the Liberian media. His legacy has also become an interest in scholarly works and literature, aptly so. According to Dr Patrick Burrowes,...

Phindile Xaba Ethiopian media legend, whose legacy remains engraved in the hearts and minds of her compatriots for her social change agency, has nerves of steel. Once incarcerated without trial, her parents were imprisoned and her husband was executed for unknown reasons. She endured all this under the Derg regime but continued her unwavering civic activism until independence. Sophia Yilma Deressa has come full circle. She and her five siblings lived and travelled all over the world and...