Suna Venter was a South African current affairs journalist, fiction writer, and senior

radio producer A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions: *Content producers or executive producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature. The content producer might organize music cho ...

at the

South African Broadcasting Corporation 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 ...

(SABC). She was one of a group of eight journalists known as the SABC8 who were suspended in 2016 for objecting to the editorial policies implemented by SABC COO

Hlaudi Motsoeneng Hlaudi Motsoeneng is the leader of African Content Movement (ACM) who served as the acting (law), acting Chief operating officer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) from 2011 to 2013. Motsoeneng was removed from his position as ...

. Most notably the policy by the SABC of refusing to air protest footage. The policy was reversed following a parliamentary enquiry. Following their suspension the journalists including Venter were the victims of numerous death threats, home break-ins and other forms of intimidation to get them to drop a Constitutional Court case against the SABC.

Death

On 29 June 2017, Venter was found dead in her home in Kelland, Johannesburg. She was 32 years old. Her death is believed to have resulted from stress induced

cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathy is a group of primary diseases of the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms. As the disease worsens, shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling of the legs may occur, due to the onset of heart failure. A ...

caused by the intimidation attempts against her following her and her colleagues' criticism of Motsoeneng's policies. The

Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP; ) is a conservative political party in South Africa, which is a part of the current South African Third Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa, government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC). A ...

made a statement following her death that she "was a hero of all times." Others condolences came from included those from South African journalists as well as the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, and Right2Know. Suna was survived by her mother Christa, father Philip, sister Tessa, and brother Wilhelm. The SAPS is investigating her death, but the investigating officer told the family that her death was caused by heart failure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venter, Suna 1980s births 2017 deaths South African women journalists Journalists from Johannesburg