Jacques Pauw is a South African investigative journalist who was an executive producer of the ''Special Assignment'' current affairs programme on

SABC The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

. Pauw was a founding member and assistant editor of the anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

Afrikaans newspaper

Vrye Weekblad ''Vrye Weekblad'' was a progressive Afrikaans national weekly newspaper that was launched in November 1988 and forced to close in 28 May 1994,. It was then relaunched as an online newspaper in 2019, before closing again in 2025.Lategan, Her ...

. He began his

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

career in 1994, specializing in documentaries around the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n continent. Throughout his journalistic career, Pauw investigated lethal criminal activities in the underworld of southern Africa and exposed atrocities committed by governments around the African continent. Affairs covered by Pauw's documentaries include the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

, the

War in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equalit ...

, and the police death squads in

South Africa under apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. In November 2017, South Africa's state security agency (SSA) brought criminal charges against Pauw because of claims made in his book, " The President's Keepers." His house was raided by the South African police in February 2018.

Retirement

In 2014, Jacques Pauw retired from journalism. He was the Head of Investigations at Media24 newspapers at the time. He had been a journalist for three decades, before the three-year break after retirement during which he (and his wife) started and ran a restaurant. Pauw spent most of that time as the chef at the restaurant, Red Tin Roof, in

Riebeek-Kasteel Riebeek-Kasteel () is one of the oldest towns in South Africa, situated at 80 km north-east of Cape Town in The Riebeek Valley together with its sister town Riebeek West. They set off in the direction of Paardeberg and on 3 February 1661 they ...

Recognition and honors

Pauw's work has been shown around the world and he has received several national and international awards, including the Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting, the

Media Institute of Southern Africa Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) is a non-governmental organisation with members in 11 of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries. Officially launched in September 1992, MISA focuses primarily on the need to promote f ...

's award for investigative journalism and the Young African Leadership Award. Twice Pauw has been named as

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

African Journalist of the Year African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** List ...

and he has also received the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award in South Africa. In 2007 he won the

Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity 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 i ...

Books

Pauw has authored and published several books from 1991 to 2017: *

Our Poisoned Land ''Our Poisoned Land: Living in the Shadows of Zuma's Keepers'' a 2022 book by Jacques Pauw, a South African investigative journalist, about the allegedly corrupt power networks between the South African government and the country's political ...

: Living in the Shadows of Zuma’s Keepers (2022) * '' The President's Keepers: Those Keeping Zuma in Power and out of Prison'' (2017) * ''Rat Roads: One Man’s Incredible Journey'' (2012) * ''Little Ice-Cream Boy'' (2009) * ''Dances with Devils: A Journalist’s Search for Truth'' (2007) * ''Into the Heart of Darkness: Confessions of Apartheid’s Assassins'' (1997) * ''In the Heart of the Whore: The Story of Apartheid’s Death Squads'' (1991)

References

South African investigative journalists South African male journalists South African non-fiction writers South African television journalists Living people White South African people Afrikaner anti-apartheid activists Year of birth missing (living people) {{SouthAfrica-journalist-stub