Charles Lee Mathews | |
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| Nationality | South African |
| Alma mater | Rhodes University |
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| Website | The Writers |
Charles Lee Mathews (also known as Charlie Mathews and formerly known as Mandy de Waal) is a South African writer and journalist. [1] [2]
They are known for their sharp and insightful commentary, and investigative pieces on politics and the media. They have written opinion and feature pieces that interrogate race, power and the media landscape in South Africa — notably their critique of then-Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille’s rhetoric on race in the Western Cape when realistically black people were faced with systematic racism in the province. [3] [4]
Their bylines have appeared in outlets including Rolling Stone , The Guardian (UK) , Daily Maverick , iMaverick, Finweek, Mail & Guardian , City Press , Rapport , Moneyweb, Noseweek , Brainstorm Magazine, ITWeb, GroundUp and MarkLives. [5] They entered news media in 2008 after twenty years as a business consultant and later changed their byline from Mandy de Waal to Charles Lee Mathews, a name that honours the writer's father, Charles Wheatley Mathews. [2]
They have been recognised for her reporting on the media landscape and political influence in South Africa. [6] Mathews notably interviewed Atul Gupta in 2011, examining the Gupta family's business and political connections in South Africa, [7] and critically analyzed their New Age newspaper and its ties to President Jacob Zuma, [8] highlighting its substantial advertising revenue from government and state-linked organizations despite its lack of certified circulation figures. [6]
In September 2011, Mathews wrote a widely read tribute to tabloid publisher Deon du Plessis, describing him as a "larger than life" figure in South African journalism and crediting his role in shaping the Daily Sun into the country’s largest-selling daily newspaper. [9] In February 2013, Mathews conducted a widely cited interview with businessman Iqbal Survé for the Daily Maverick shortly after Survé's Sekunjalo Independent Media Consortium announced the R2 billion acquisition of the Independent News & Media South African group, [10] a piece which explored Survé’s assurances of editorial independence following the takeover [11] and which has since been referenced in discussions about media ownership and press freedom in South Africa. [12] [13]