Toby Shapshak is a South African journalist, editor and publisher of the South African edition of

Stuff magazine ''Stuff'' is a British consumer electronics magazine published by Kelsey Media. History ''Stuff'' was first published in Britain in November 1996 by Dennis Publishing. A bimonthly title, it followed the success of magazines such as '' FHM'' ...

and writes a weekly opinion column for the

Financial Mail ''Financial Mail'' (or the ''FM'', as it is also known) is a South African business publication focused on reaching the country's leading business people. This weekly publication, which was launched in 1959, underwent a major "look and feel" ch ...

, called ''Pattern Recognition'' and a column for

Forbes magazine ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

. Formerly a senior newspaper reporter covering everything from crime to politics, he has been writing about innovation, telecoms and the internet and the impact it has on Africa for more than 20 years.

Education and career

Shapshak attended Higlands North high school and graduated from

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

in Grahamstown, South Africa in 1992 with a BA in journalism. One of his first jobs was to shadow

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

when he was president, and to report on the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

. He worked at the

Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'', formerly the ''Weekly Mail'', is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, loca ...

from 1998 to 2000 in the positions of sports editor, technology editor, news editor and acting editor. Shapshak was senior writer and section editor at ThisDay newspaper, from its opening in October 2013 until it closed a year later owing to financial difficulties experienced by the owner. This was followed by a short stint as contributing editor at BestLife magazine. For 8 years he was contributing editor and South African Bureau chief at GQ South Africa. He also worked at Avusa media,

Business Day A business day normally means any day except a legal holiday. It may also mean a business day of operation, any of the days an organization operates. It depends on the local workweek which is dictated by local customs, religions, and business ...

and

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

. In 2001, Shapshak started Maven Media and in 2007 started publishing the South African edition of Stuff Magazine, of which he is owner and managing director. In 2013 he started contributing to the

, with a technology column called ''Pattern Recognition'' and a column for

in 2017. Shapshak and Aki Anastasiou hosted ''TechBusters'', a weekly TV show on

CNBC Africa Consumer News and Business Channel Africa (known as CNBC Africa) is an African pay television network launched on 1 June 2007. Founded by Rakesh Wahi and Zafar Siddiqi, the network is produced under license from CNBC International and is owned ...

from 2013 to 2016. In 2018 he was co-curator of the ''Creativate Digital Arts Festival'' in

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

Recognition

Shapshak is a recognized thought leader and speaker in the worlds of African technology and business, speaking at events such as TED,

SxSW South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

’s IDF conference in San Francisco, Tech4Africa, Sweden’s ''The Conference'', AfricaCom in Cape Town and Germany's ''Zukunftskongress''. Shapshak has appeared on

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 ...

, was included in the Mail & Guardian's list of Young South Africans in 2009, was listed as one of GQ's Top 30 men in media and was the ICT Journalist of the Year in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapshak, Toby Living people Journalists from Johannesburg South African male journalists Year of birth missing (living people) Rhodes University alumni