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Martin Welz is a South African journalist and the editor of Noseweek magazine. He is best known for his investigative work on controversial issues including government and corporate corruption.
Martin Sylvester Welz was born on 19 October 1945 in Worcester, Western Cape, South Africa. He was the fourth son of artist Jean Welz, born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1900. His mother was Inger Marie Welz (née Christensen), born in Odense, Denmark, in 1908.
A report by Welz while he was working for the Sunday Times from 1977–1981 saw an R180-million defamation claim instituted against himself and the paper by Lebanese businessman Salim el Hajj. El Hajj had been accused by Welz of a series of frauds in the then-black "homelands". El Hajj fled the country before the case got to court. Welz also worked on South Africa's "Muldergate" Information scandal and helped expose wrongdoing by apartheid-era cabinet ministers, inter alia revealing that both Minister of Manpower and Energy Fanie Botha and State President Nico Diederichs was secretly bankrupt while in office. In 1981–82, Welz was appointed Parliamentary correspondent for Sunday Express, Johannesburg. While at the Express, he won the Stellenbosch farmers' Winery Award (1983) for a series exposing the corrupt pharmaceutical empire established by businessmen Isaac Kay and David Tabatznik. [1]
Noseweek was founded in Cape Town, South Africa, in June 1993. It contains a minimal amount of advertising and has survived and grown mainly on its sales. [2]
The first lawsuit against the magazine was brought in 1994 by Dr. Robert Milton Hall, an American tax refugee and millionaire dentist living in Stellenbosch, Western Cape. The trial was in 1996 in the Cape High Court before Judge Johann Conradie. Noseweek had, inter alia, pointed out Dr. Hall's fraudulent claims to be the "inventor of modern-day dentistry", and his ongoing foreign exchange and tax contraventions.[ citation needed ]
The magazine was represented by an attorney and advocates and Welz represented himself. Noseweek and Welz won the case. Judge Johann Conradie presided and in his judgment found that Dr. Hall, "... sued not to salvage his reputation but to sustain a colossal fraud." [3] This litigation put the magazine on ice for approximately two years and nearly bankrupted it. [3] It was relaunched thanks to the voluntary contributions of scores of its loyal readers.
In 2007 Welz represented himself in a court action brought by the FirstRand group to prevent Noseweek from publishing a list of FirstRand clients allegedly involved in a dubious[ clarification needed ] offshore investment scheme. The action was dismissed with costs. [4]
Cape Town businesswoman, Inge Peacock, sued Noseweek and Martin Welz in March 2012. [5] Judge Andre Le Grange of the Cape High Court dismissed Peacock's case with costs, but stated that the plaintiff may pursue damages for defamation against Noseweek. [6] The resulting publicity created a "Streisand effect" after the mainstream press picked up the story.
In 2008 Welz reported that a ship due to dock in Durban harbour carried a shipment of Chinese weapons bound for Zimbabwe. [7] News of the $1.245 million, 77-ton shipment came via what Welz described as "a whistleblower of conscience," who supplied Noseweek with a commercial invoice, bill of lading and packing list for the shipment. [8]
Stellenbosch University (SU) (Afrikaans: Universiteit Stellenbosch, Xhosa: iYunivesithi yaseStellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Saharan Africa, which received full university status in 1918. Stellenbosch University designed and manufactured Africa's first microsatellite, SUNSAT, launched in 1999.
Rhodes University is a public research university located in Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province.
Roger Brett Kebble was a South African mining magnate with close links to factions in the ruling political party, the African National Congress. Known to be personally eccentric, he became a major player in South African gold and diamond mining from the mid-1990s, especially through black economic empowerment deals, but was embroiled in allegations of corporate fraud and misconduct, the extent of which was revealed only after his death. He was shot dead on 27 September 2005 in Johannesburg. The investigation into his death, involving several prominent businessmen and politicians, received significant public attention. His name was also prominent in media coverage of Jackie Selebi's 2009 corruption trial. 2010 court testimony revealed that Kebble was killed by hit men hired by his security chief, allegedly at his own request – an apparent suicide-by-murder. However, the complete circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear.
Daily Maverick is a South African online news publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. It claims to have a readership of approximately 14.5 million unique website visits per month in 2024. It was founded in 2009 by Branislav Brkic, who was also its Editor-in-Chief of the publication, and Styli Charalambous, its chief executive officer.
Nathaniel Ndazana Nakasa better known as Nat Nakasa was a South African journalist and short story writer.
Alfred Khumalo, better known as Alf Kumalo, was a South African documentary photographer and photojournalist.
Alide Dasnois is a South African journalist and newspaper editor.
Jacques Pauw is a South African investigative journalist who was an executive producer of the Special Assignment current affairs programme on SABC. Pauw was a founding member and assistant editor of the anti-apartheid Afrikaans newspaper Vrye Weekblad. He began his television career in 1994, specializing in documentaries around the African continent.
Noseweek is a South African tabloid published by Chaucer Publications that has appeared monthly since June 1993. It is best known for regular legal action against it, such as a failed bid at interdiction by banking group FirstRand and defamation actions by judge Fikile Bam and former public protector Selby Baqwa.
Leonard Mzilikazi Ndzukula, better known as Mzilikazi wa Afrika, is a South African investigative journalist who worked for the Sunday Times newspaper. He resigned with a colleague, Stephan Hofstatter, in October 2018 after the newspaper publicly apologised for a number of stories they wrote between 2011 and 2016 which were found to be not reflecting an honest truth. He is a multi-award winning journalist, a music producer and also the author of Nothing Left to Steal.
Taco Esgo Kuiper was an investigative journalist and wealthy publisher in South Africa. He was best known in the late 20th century as owner and publishing editor of The Investors’ Guide in Johannesburg, for undertaking and encouraging investigative journalism in South Africa, and for funding the annual Taco Kuiper Award in investigative journalism.
AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation which mainly focuses on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. AfriForum has been described as a "white nationalist, alt-right, and Afrikaner nationalist group", though this description is rejected by the organisation's leadership, who refer to themselves as a civil rights group.
Johannes Hendrik Conradie was a South African politician, advocate, and judge who was a Speaker of Parliament of South Africa.
The Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity is an award presented to a South African media practitioner in newspapers, magazines, broadcasting and online print media and whose reporting celebrates freedom of speech and media integrity. The award is managed and presented by the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF).
Pieter-Louis Myburgh is a South African investigative journalist.
GroundUp is a South African-based not-for-profit news agency. It publishes most content under a creative commons license and is known for its focus on public interest stories within vulnerable communities with a "bottom-up" style of reporting. Their content is regularly reprinted and featured in other South African news publications such as the Daily Maverick, News24, and Mail & Guardian. The publication was founded in 2012 by Nathan Geffen, a former Treatment Action Campaign member.
Mandy Rossouw was a South African journalist, political analyst and author. She worked in a variety of positions, including as an international correspondent for Media24 and the deputy politics editor at Mail & Guardian. Rossouw was also known for breaking the Nkandlagate story.
Stephen Patrick "Sam" Sole is a South African investigative journalist. He is the co-founder and managing director of the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism. Before the centre became independent in April 2016, he was a journalist for the Mail & Guardian. Since 2003 he has won both the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award and the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism on multiple occasions.
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