Award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief Mondli Makhanya joins Daily Maverick as a regular political columnist before the 2026 local government elections. Daily Maverick announced today that award-winning journalist and former City Press editor-in-chief Mondli Makhanya is joining the publication as a regular columnist, bringing one of the country’s sharpest political minds to its growing stable of analytical voices.
Makhanya, who has led three of South Africa’s most prominent newsrooms – the Sunday Times, the Mail & Guardian and City Press – will write a weekly political analysis column for Daily Maverick, which will be published in DM168, Daily Maverick’s weekly newspaper. Makhanya will also contribute to Daily Maverick’s Democracy 26 newsletter, which tracks the road to the 2026 local government elections.
“Mondli is one of the most important journalistic voices this country has produced,” says Ferial Haffajee, Daily Maverick associate editor and head of its political bureau.
“His depth of political understanding, his independence and his ability to make sense of complexity for readers is exactly what this moment demands. With local elections approaching, we want Daily Maverick to be the place South Africans come to think – not just to be informed. We are delighted to welcome the lowly newspaperman and Orlando Pirates Supporter-in-Chief to join our crew.”
Makhanya’s arrival positions Daily Maverick as home to an exceptional concentration of analytical talent before the local elections. Alongside Haffajee and senior political correspondent and associate editor Stephen Grootes – who has covered South African politics daily since Daily Maverick’s founding in 2009 – the publication is building what it believes is the country’s most formidable election analysis team.
“In its 17 years of life, Daily Maverick has become an indispensable part of South African life. This publication’s investigations, incisive political coverage, analysis and opinion have made DM a giant in the media space,” says Makhanya. “I am super-excited to join this great team and add this lowly newspaperman’s perspectives to this already superb offering.”
Makhanya served as editor of the Sunday Times from 2004 to 2010, a tenure during which the paper’s readership grew from 3.2 million to nearly four million. He subsequently served as editor-in-chief of the Times Media Group before taking the helm at City Press in 2016. He is a former chairperson of the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) and a widely recognised voice on media freedom, democratic accountability and the political economy.
His column will debut in DM168 and run weekly in the paper from 12 June 2026, with additional analysis running in Daily Maverick’s dedicated local government elections coverage. DM