Taco Esgo Kuiper (11 November 1941 – 24 September 2004) was an investigative journalist and wealthy

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

in South Africa. He was the 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.

Biography

Taco Kuiper was born on 11 November 1941, in Batavia,

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

) in 1941 to Dutch parents, and spent the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in a Japanese

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

. After the war, his family returned to the Netherlands. In the early 1960s, they sent him 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

to work for

Barclays Bank Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

, later moving to South Africa and starting his own investment statistical service from a small flat in

Hillbrow Hillbrow () is an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty, prostitution and crime. It had a large and active Jewish commun ...

. Eventually he made his fortune as owner and publishing editor of the successful ''The Investor's Guide'' in Johannesburg, in which he reported on

malfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up t ...

and

white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The crimes are believed to be committed by middle- or upper-class indivi ...

in Johannesburg financial circles, as well as on the financial and other negative impacts that

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 ...

had on South African black communities. Kuiper died 24 September 2004, in

. The mourners were asked to sign a register of attendance. Some 92 people did, the others declined. It turned out that he had stipulated in his will that everyone who signed would share in a special legacy of R1 million, giving around R11,000 to each of the people who were not shy to be associated with Kuiper.

Taco Kuiper Awards

The Taco Kuiper Fund encourages and rewards investigative journalism in South Africa through the Taco Kuiper Awards for Investigative Journalism. The Fund and the Valley Trust were created by Taco Kuiper shortly before his death. The Wits Journalism Programme now partners with The Valley Trust to administer the Taco Kuiper Fund and Award.

Taco Kuiper Award Winners

2006

Adriaan Basson and Carien du Plessis, journalists, for their series of articles investigating corruption at the Department of Correctional Services in '' Die Beeld'' and ''

Die Burger ''Die Burger'' (English: The Citizen) is a daily Afrikaans-language newspaper, published by Naspers. By 2008, it had a circulation of 91,665 in the Western and Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa. Along with '' Beeld'' and '' Volksblad'', it ...

'' newspapers. Runners up * Zukile Majova, Stephen Patrick, Sam Sole, Nicholas Dawes and Stefaans Brümmer, journalists for ''

Mail and Guardian The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...

'', for their articles on the

Jackie Selebi Jacob "Jackie" Sello Selebi (7 March 195023 January 2015) was the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service from January 2000 to January 2008, when he was put on extended leave and charged with corruption. He was also a former pre ...

and Brett Kebble investigation. * Fred Kockott and Sibusiso Ngalwa, journalists from ''

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to ta ...

'', for their article on the abuse of the national

Nguni cattle The Nguni is a cattle breed indigenous to Southern Africa. A hybrid of different Indian and later European cattle breeds, they were introduced by pastoralist tribes ancestral to modern Nguni people to Southern Africa during their migration from t ...

herd by the Ithala Finance Development Corporation in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

province.

2007

Brett Horner, Chandre Prince and Ntando Makhubu, journalists from the '' Daily Dispatch'', for their expose of neo-natal deaths in the Frere Hospital in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. Runners up * Stefaans Brümmer, Stephen Sole, Zukile Majova, Nic Dawes, Adriaan Basson and Pearlie Joubert, journalist team for the ''Mail and Guardian'', for their articles on the scandals of former South African police commissioner, Jackie Selebi.

2008

Sam Sole, Stefaans Brümmer and Adriaan Basson, journalists from the ''Mail and Guardian'', for their series of articles "Smokes, sex and the arms deal" about Zimbabwean businessman John Bredenkamp. Runners up * ''

Carte Blanche A blank cheque or blank check in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or va ...

'' producers Nicola de Chaud and Odette Schwegier, and Devi Sankaree Govender, presenter, for their programme "Police Corruption in

Hammanskraal Hammanskraal is a trans-provincial region anchored in northern Gauteng province, South Africa. The region consists of multiple residential, industrial, and commercial areas in a decentralized settlement pattern. History The historical roots of ...

". * Dumisane Lubisi and Jacky Mapiloko, journalists at '' City Press'', for their articles on tender corruption in Soweto's hospital.

2009

Rob Rose from the '' Financial Mail''/''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', for his series of articles on Barry Tannenbaum and his swindling of some of South Africa's wealthiest businessmen and investors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuiper, Taco South African investigative journalists South African publishers (people) 1941 births 2004 deaths 20th-century journalists