Pieter-Louis Myburgh is a South African investigative journalist.
Myburgh attended Paul Roos Gymnasium before obtaining his BPhil in Journalism at honours level from Stellenbosch University. [1]
On 18 March 2016 he was honoured with the 2016 Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism for his exposé on impropriety at the publicly owned rail corporation, Prasa. The judges of the Taco Kuiper Award praised Myburgh for his work describing it as "classic investigative work: careful, patient probing to find supporting evidence for an abuse of public moneys, backed up with solid documentation, and powerfully presented to ensure it had impact". [2] During the course of his investigation into impropriety in government procurement sacked Prasa boss Lucky Montana allegedly attacked him with a brick, damaging his car. [3] [4]
He is currently employed at News24. He is the author of The Republic of Gupta , an investigation into state capture by the Gupta family, [5] [6] and Gangster State , on Ace Magashule, the Secretary-General of the African National Congress.
Daily Maverick is a South African daily online publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Its readership is spread across South Africa and the world, with approximately 8 million readers per month. It was founded in 2009 by Branko Brkic, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of the publication, and Styli Charalambous, the Chief Executive Officer. The slogan of Daily Maverick is Defend Truth.
Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba is a South African politician who served as Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of South Africa appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa from 27 February 2018 until his resignation on 13 November 2018. He also held the post from 25 May 2014 to 31 March 2017 as appointed by former President Jacob Zuma. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Public Enterprises and Minister of Finance in the government of South Africa. He is currently a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress.
Samson Gwede Mantashe, popularly known as Gwede Mantashe, is a South African politician and trade unionist, who as of 18 December 2017, serves as the National Chairperson of the African National Congress. He is also a former chairperson of the South African Communist Party and Secretary General of the ANC. On the 26th of February 2018, during a cabinet reshuffle by president Cyril Ramaphosa, Mantashe was appointed Minister of Mineral Resources. In May 2019, he became Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, when his earlier portfolio was merged with the energy portfolio.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is a South African state-owned enterprise responsible for most passenger rail services in the country.
Corruption in South Africa includes the improper use of public resources for private ends, including bribery and improper favouritism. The 2017 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index assigned South Africa a score of 43 out of 100, ranking South Africa 71 out of 180 countries; a high score and a low ranking signals that the country's public sector is perceived to be honest. There was a marginal improvement by 2021, when South Africa received a score of 44, ranking it 70 out of 180 countries. Nonetheless, this remains below its score of 45 in 2016. Countries with scores below 50 are believed to have serious corruption problems.
Zwelini Lawrence Mkhize is a South African medical doctor and politician who served as the Minister of Health from May 2019 until his resignation on 5 August 2021. He previously served as the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2018 to 2019. Before that, he was the fifth Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 2009 to 2013.
Pravin Jamnadas Gordhan is a politician and anti-apartheid activist who has held various ministerial posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He served as Minister of Finance from 2009 until 2014 and again from 2015 until 2017, as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from 2014 until 2015, and as Minister of Public Enterprises since February 2018.
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.
Elias Sekgobelo "Ace" Magashule is a South African politician and former anti-apartheid activist who was Secretary General of the African National Congress (ANC) until his suspension on 3 May 2021. He served as the Premier of the Free State, one of South Africa's nine provinces, from 2009 until 2018, and is known to be influential in the ANC of his home province.
Dikobe Ben Martins, is a former Minister of Energy and has held other posts in the Cabinet of South Africa. He has served in Parliament since 1994 and has been a Central Committee Member of the South African Communist Party.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa Class Afro 4000 of 2014 is a South African diesel-electric locomotive.
The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-born family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family owns a business empire spanning computer equipment, media, and mining. The family name became synonymous with corruption in South Africa and they have been sanctioned by multiple countries for their activities.
Duduzane Zuma is the son of the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, and the twin brother of Duduzile Zuma.
Mosebenzi Joseph Zwane was the Minister of Mineral Resources of South Africa in the Second Cabinet of former President Jacob Zuma serving from 2015 until 2018. A controversial figure, Zwane resigned on 25 February 2018 following allegations of state capture and in particular his role in the Vrede Dairy Project, which helped bankroll the Gupta Family wedding.
The Republic of Gupta: A Story of State Capture is a 2017 book by South African investigative journalist Pieter-Louis Myburgh.
In South Africa the Department of Public Enterprises is the shareholder representative of the South African Government with oversight responsibility for state-owned enterprises in key sectors. Some companies are not directly controlled by the Department of Public Enterprises, but by various other departments. Further, not all state owned entities are registered as companies.
The Vrede Dairy Project is a dairy project established in 2012 on Krynaauwslust Farm, near the town of Vrede, Free State Province, South Africa. The dairy was established as a public-private partnership with Estina, a Black Economic Empowerment company, as part of the Free State provincial government's agricultural project, Mohoma-Mobung. Estina was given the land under a free 99 year lease.
AmaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism is an investigative journalism organisation focusing primarily on exposing political corruption in South Africa and neighbouring countries. They say that their name means “dung beetles” in isiZulu, one of the indigenous languages of South Africa. They claim they are “digging dung, fertilising democracy.”
Gangster State: Unravelling Ace Magashule's Web of Capture (2019) is a book by Pieter-Louis Myburgh, a South African investigative journalist. The book is an account of Ace Magashule's rise to power as premier of the Free State and his impact on both the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African government.
Tshepo Lucky Montana was the chief executive officer of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) between 2010 and 2015.