Max du Preez

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Max du Preez, 2017

Max du Preez (born March 3, 1951 in Kroonstad ) is a South African writer, journalist and documentary filmmaker. He is best known as the former editor of the Vrye Weekblad newspaper and as a political commentator.

Life

Du Preez grew up in a middle-class Afrikaans-speaking family with four brothers and three sisters. After matric he attended Stellenbosch University . He got his first job with the Cape Town newspaper Die Burger. From 1974 he worked at Beeld . In 1983 he decided that he could no longer support the apartheid- friendly course of the Afrikaans-language papers and switched to the English-language newspapers Financial Mail , Sunday Times and Business Day as a political correspondent . In 1987 he was part of a delegation led by Frederik van Zyl Slabbert , who met in Dakar with high-ranking members of the African National Congress , which was banned in South Africa . In November 1988, du Preez was the founding editor of Vrye Weekblad, the only opposition newspaper in Afrikaans. Among other things, he uncovered with the sheet the existence and functioning of the secret police unit Vlakplaas and the military unit Civil Cooperation Bureau . Because he printed a quote from the banned politician Joe Slovo , he was sentenced to six months in prison. Numerous lawsuits drove the newspaper into bankruptcy in 1994.

From 1994 du Preez worked for the television company of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SADC) as the executive director of the investigative television programs Special Report on the Truth Commission and Special Assignment (for example: "Special task"). After he protested against the cancellation of a contribution in 1999, he was dismissed for "gross insubordination ". Since then he has been working as a freelance journalist and writer. In 2001 he described President Thabo Mbeki as a womaniser on a radio broadcast , which sparked sharp protests by the now ruling party, the ANC.

Du Preez writes non-fiction books on current political issues in South Africa. Several of his works deal with historical figures. In 2004 his documentary The Renaissance King: Morena Moshoeshoe (1786-1870) about the first head of the Basotho , Moshoeshoe I , was broadcast on SABC television.

Du Preez sees himself as an independent journalist. In 2015 he gave up his position as a columnist for the Independent Group because the editorial team had been photographed together with party badges from the ANC.

Since April 2019, the Vrye Weekblad has been published in a weekly online edition, which, like the previous newspaper, is published by du Preez.

Du Preez lives with his family in Cape Town.

Honors

  • 1991: Louis Lyons Award for "Conscience and Integrity in Journalism"
  • 1996: Excellence in Journalism Award from the Foreign Correspondents Association of Southern Africa
  • 2006: Yale Globalist International Journalist of the Year
  • 2008: Nat Nakasa Award for "fearless activity as a reporter"
  • 2014: Alan Paton Award for A rumor of spring: South Africa after 20 years of democracy
  • 2016: Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Free State

Non-fiction

  • 2001: Louis Luyt. Biography. Zebra Press, Cape Town.
  • 2003: Pale native: memories of a renegade reporter. Autobiography. Zebra Press, Cape Town.
  • 2004: Of warriors, lovers and prophets: unusual stories from South Africa's past. Struik, Cape Town.
  • 2005: Oranje, blanje, blues: 'n nostalgiese trip - Vrye Weekblad 88–94. Zebra Press, Cape Town.
  • 2008: Of tricksters, tyrants and turncoats. Struik, Cape Town / Johannesburg.
  • 2009 (together with Mandy Roussouw): The world according to Julius Malema . Kwela Books, Johannesburg.
  • 2011: Opinion pieces by South African thought leaders. Penguin, Cape Town / Johannesburg.
  • 2011: A rough guide to Nelson Mandela. Rough Guides, London.
  • 2012: A chief is a chief by the grace of his people - once we had leaders. Table Mountain, Cape Town.
  • 2013: A rumor of spring: South Africa after 20 years of democracy. Penguin Random House South Africa, Cape Town / Johannesburg.
  • 2015: Of renegades, romantics and rabblerousers: more untold stories from Southern Africa's past. Penguin Random House South Africa, Cape Town / Johannesburg.

documentary

  • 2004: The Renaissance King: Morena Moshoeshoe (1786–1870)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Interview with du Preez (2001; English), accessed on July 24, 2016
  2. ^ Johannesburg journal: for an Afrikaner weekly success brings bombs. New York Times, July 26, 1990, accessed July 24, 2016
  3. ↑ Mbeki's a womanizer - Max. News24.com of April 10, 2001 (English), accessed on July 24, 2016
  4. ^ Lip Service. news24.com of October 14, 2004 (English), accessed on July 24, 2016
  5. ^ Max du Preez: Wave after wave - Zuma's annus maximus horribilis. biznews.com of February 4, 2016 (English), accessed July 24, 2016
  6. ↑ Jessica Levitt: Vrye Weekblad is back and armed with a powerful crew. timeslive.co.za, February 19, 2019, accessed March 8, 2019
  7. ↑ List of the award winners , accessed on July 24, 2016
  8. ^ Trevor Manuel and Max du Preez honored with doctorates by UFS. news24.com from June 30, 2016 (English), accessed on July 25, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Preez, you Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African writer, journalist and documentary filmmaker
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Kroonstad