'Freedom of the press is a precious privilege that no country can forego.'  – Mahatma Gandhi

In 2016, the country watched as eight journalists stood up to the public broadcaster to dissent against the censorship imposed by COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng and the capture of the newsroom. They would become known as the SABC8. While many may remember the headlines, photos and footage that circulated during that time, few know the real story: the way lives were changed while history was being made.

Now, Foeta Krige, one of the SABC8, shares his version of events: how it came about that eight very different journalists from within the public broadcaster, each with their own unique background and motivation, were brought together by circumstance to fight the mighty SABC in the name of media freedom.

This forms the backdrop for a lesser-known story – one of death threats, intimidation, assault and the eventual death of Suna Venter. Her death shocked the nation and baffled investigators. Was it a natural death caused by stress, or were there more sinister forces involved? To understand why her death was red-flagged, it is necessary to retrace her steps and how they converged with those of the seven other journalists.

Krige takes the reader back to the day when everything started, telling the gripping, and often harrowing, story behind the sensational headlines.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Foeta Krige is a veteran journalist with 37 years’ experience in print media, television and radio. In 2016, as part of a group of journalists called the SABC8, he won the Nat Nakasa Award for courageous and brave journalism, as well as the Chairman’s Guardian of Governance Award in 2017 from the Institute of Internal Auditors South Africa. For the past 14 years he has been the executive producer of the current affairs programmes of the SABC’s Afrikaans radio station, RSG.

The SABC8 is published by Penguin Random House South Africa