Taco Esgo Kuiper (11 November 1941 in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

– 24 September 2004 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

) was an

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

and wealthy

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

in South Africa. He was best known in the late 20th century as 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 in

(now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

) in 1941 to Dutch parents, and spent the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in a Japanese

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

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

to work for

Barclays Bank Barclays () 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. Barclays traces ...

, 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. In the 1970s it was an Apartheid-design ...

. 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 the ...

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. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

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

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

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

'' 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 syst ...

'', 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 Pr ...

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 tab ...

'', 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 and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

province.

2007

Brett Horner, Chandre Prince and Ntando Makhubu, journalists from the ''

Daily Dispatch The ''Daily Dispatch'' is a South African newspaper published in East London in the province of Eastern Cape. The weekend edition is titled ''Saturday Dispatch''. Founded in 1872 as the ''East London Dispatch'', the ''Daily Dispatch'' is the Ea ...

'', for their expose of neo-natal deaths in the Frere Hospital in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

. 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 John Arnold Bredenkamp (11 August 1940 – 18 June 2020) was a Zimbabwean businessman and rugby union footballer. He was the founder of the Casalee Group. Early life Born in South Africa, Bredenkamp moved with his family to Southern Rhodesia wh ...

. Runners up * ''

Carte Blanche A blank cheque 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 vague, and therefo ...

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

Hammanskraal Hammanskraal is a functional, 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 historica ...

". * 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 ''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 ...

''/''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British 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 News UK, whi ...

'', 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