Alide Dasnois
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Alide Dasnois (born 1950) is a South African
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and newspaper editor.


Education and career

Dasnois matriculated from Herschel Girls School and completed a bachelor's degree in economics at the
University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
. She obtained a master's degree at the Sorbonne (Université Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne) in Development Economics. During the mid-1980s she worked as a translator in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. In 1988, she moved to
Reunion Island Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...
to work for ''Témoignages''. In 1992, she started working at '' The Argus'' in
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
where she edited the business section before becoming assistant editor for ''Personal Finance'' (Cape Town). In 2001, she moved to
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
and became the editor of ''Business Report'', before working as acting editor of the ''
Pretoria News ''Pretoria News'' is a daily English-medium newspaper established in 1898 in South Africa's capital city Pretoria. It is distributed in the Tshwane Metropolitan area. ''Pretoria News'' covers a range of local news, as well as national and inter ...
'' for a year in 2006. She worked as deputy editor of the
Cape Times The ''Cape Times'' is an English-language morning newspaper owned by Sekunjalo Investments, Independent News & Media SA and published in Cape Town, South Africa. the newspaper had a daily readership of 261000 and a circulation of 34523. By th ...
from December 2006 until April 2009, when she became first female editor of the ''Cape Times''.


Controversy

Dasnois was removed from her post as ''Cape Times'' editor on the weekend of 6 December 2013, shortly after the acquisition of the ''Cape Times'' by
Sekunjalo Investments Sekunjalo Investment Holdings (parent company of African Equity Empowerment Investments) is a South Africa-based private equity firm specializing in acquisitions, PIPEs, and buyouts. It has principal operations in publishing, Internet, fishi ...
Limited. In response to allegations that her removal was in retaliation for an article in the ''Cape Times'' reporting findings by the Public Protector prejudicial to the Sekunjalo Group, the executive chairman Iqbal Surve released a press statement indicating her removal was for "under performance" and failure in her "fiduciary responsibilities". The removal of Dasnois as editor and related threats of legal action from Sekunjalo have elicited statements of support for her and of concern over editorial independence at the ''Cape Times'' from
Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association wit ...
, the
International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the largest global union federation of journalists' trade unions in the world. It represents more than 600,000 media workers from 187 organisations in 146 countries. The IFJ is an associate ...
, the SA Centre for
PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...
, the SA National Editors Forum, the Freedom of Expression Institute, and the Right2Know Campaign. Dasnois won the 2014 Nat Nakasa award for courage and integrity in journalism from the SA National Editors' Forum, the Nieman Foundation and Print and Digital Media SA. In their citation, the judges – Joe Thloloe, Peter Sullivan and Simphiwe Sesanti – said she had "demonstrated all the qualities required to win this award, such as bravery, integrity and courage". "This she displayed in her career as the editor of the Cape Times, a position from which she was relieved recently by the owners of the newspaper. The official reason for her removal was that she failed to give coverage to the passing away of former South African president Nelson Mandela. This reason was rejected by many, attributing her bosses' move to her publication of a report – on the same day she was removed – by the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, which found the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Tina Joemat-Petterson, guilty of "improper conduct and maladministration" in an irregular awarding of an R800-million tender to the Sekunjalo Consortium. "Dasnois' supporters pointed out that under her editorship the Cape Times paid tribute to Madiba with a wrap-around edition. The coverage of Madiba's passing was among 15 Mandela covers worldwide especially commended by Time magazine."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dasnois, Alide South African newspaper editors 1950 births Living people University of Cape Town alumni University of Paris alumni Alumni of Herschel Girls' School South African women writers South African writers Articles containing video clips South African women newspaper editors South African expatriates in France Cape Times journalists 20th-century South African journalists 20th-century South African women journalists 21st-century South African journalists 21st-century South African women journalists