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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 1900. His mother is 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 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, together with the University of Cape Town - which received full university status on the same day 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. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the province's oldest university, and it is the sixth oldest South African university in continuous operation, being preceded by the University of the Free State (1904), University of Witwatersrand (1896), University of South Africa (1873) as the University of the Cape of Good Hope, Stellenbosch University (1866) and the University of Cape Town (1829). Rhodes was founded in 1904 as Rhodes University College, named after Cecil Rhodes, through a grant from the Rhodes Trust. It became a constituent college of the University of South Africa in 1918 before becoming an independent university in 1951.
The Mail & Guardian, formerly the Weekly Mail, is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular culture. It is considered a newspaper of record for South Africa.
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 10 million readers per month. It was founded in 2009 by Branislav Brkic, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of the publication, and Styli Charalambous, its Chief Executive Officer.
Johann Peter Rupert is a South African billionaire businessman, who is the eldest son of business tycoon Anton Rupert and his wife Huberte. He is the chairman of the Swiss-based luxury-goods company Richemont and the South Africa-based company Remgro. Since April 2010, he has been the CEO of Compagnie Financiere Richemont. Rupert and family were ranked the richest in South Africa on the 2023 Forbes list, with an estimated net worth of US$10.7 billion.
Edwin Cameron is a retired judge who served as a Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He is well known for his HIV/AIDS and gay-rights activism and was hailed by Nelson Mandela as "one of South Africa's new heroes". President Ramaphosa appointed him as Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services from 1 January 2020 and in October 2019 he was elected Chancellor of Stellenbosch University.
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.
Johannes Hendrik Conradie was a South African politician, advocate, and judge who was a Speaker of Parliament of South Africa.
Pieter-Louis Myburgh is a South African investigative journalist.
Gwen Sinethemba Amanda Ngwenya, is a South African academic, politician and Head of Policy for the opposition Democratic Alliance. As a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance in the Fifth Parliament, she served on the Standing Committee on Finance. She has also served as COO of the South African Institute of Race Relations, Africa's largest classically liberal think tank.
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.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a South African-based non-profit membership organisation for editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers. The SANEF supports South African journalism through a number of activities ranging from public statements supporting media freedom, running training programs for journalists, writing policy submissions to government, to sponsoring and conducting research into the state of the media in South Africa. The SANEF runs the annual Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity that recognises media practitioners that have improved South African journalism.
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