Defend Truth

Jessica Bezuidenhout

Jessica Bezuidenhout joined Daily Maverick as an investigative reporter in August 2017 after a brief stint at the Mail & Guardian and a punishing but rewarding 10 years of news desk service at the Sunday Times. She has been joint recipient of several journalism accolades in South Africa, among those, a Nat Nakasa, Mondi and Vodacom regional journalist of the year award for a series on South Africa’s notorious post-Apartheid arms deal. She was also joint winner of the John Manyarara Award for investigative journalism and her team earned a commendation in the Africa category of the 2003 Natali Prize for a body of work on South Africa’s first forestry privatization deals. As a mom to an inter-generational brood, she is navigating her return to the trenches along with #FeesMustFall debates, a desire to commit to school governing body activities and keeping up with the latest LOL doll craze. Don’t judge her by her Twitter followers, a list that includes a parody account of the DPRK News Service as she very much appreciates irony and of course, any light-hearted banter involving the supreme leader, Kim Jong-Un.