Local journalist features in Vodacom award

Date: 15 November 2018 By: 

A local journalist’s name features among the regional winners of the coveted Vodacom Journalist of the Year competition. Ironically enough, it does so among the Western Cape winners and in the Data Journalism category.

The Zoutpansberger’s Anton van Zyl formed part of a team of journalists who probed the pay-outs made by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). The project has its roots in data aggregation, where large volumes of data get collected and then interpreted. In this case, 16 years of NLC pay-outs to charitable organisations were collected and made available in searchable format.

The project allowed journalists in small communities to identify the local projects and investigate these. The original idea was that it would allow the journalists to identify some “good news” stories and write about the projects aimed at uplifting communities. What the project did uncover, though, was large-scale corruption and misuse of funds. It also revealed a culture of secrecy and lack of accountability at the NLC.

In the judges’ citation, they had a lot of praise for the project. “The judges looked to reward journalists who approach data journalism with innovation and energy, but also those who use this form of journalism to help shed light on serious and complicated issues in society. The winning entry combined skilful storytelling, in-depth analysis, deep insight and enterprising journalism to uncover a story with both local and global implications, in the process setting a benchmark for media coverage of allocation of funding of any kind,” said the judges.

The entry, entitled ‘Gaming the Lottery’, was described as a stand-out regional winner. The team comprised Roxanne Joseph, Adi Eyal, Siphe Macanda, Anton van Zyl, Raymond Joseph, Jeff Lowenstein, Damien Schlechter, Daniela Lepiz and Khadija Sharife. The team members are from Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, East London, Burkina Faso and from the United States. Anton is the only one from a “rural” area.

The regional winners will compete in the national event for the coveted national Vodacom Journalist of the Year awards. The names of the winners will be announced on 29 November in Sandton.

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