‘South Africa almost had a dress rehearsal for the capture that the United States is experiencing. We had an administration led by Jacob Zuma where loyalty to Jacob Zuma was seen as more important than actual ability.’

Karyn Maughan gained international recognition for her broadcast reportage of the infamous Oscar Pistorius murder trial. But the investigative legal journalist, who started her career as a court reporter covering Jacob Zuma’s 2006 rape trial ahead of his presidency, became the target of the former South African president’s wrath and, in September 2022, he initiated private criminal litigation against her – effectively, a SLAPP suit.

Maughan was vindicated at the end of a lengthy trial in a judgement that carried a sharp rebuke for the former President.

Today, Zuma is still appealing the ruling – this time, to the Constitutional Court. 

And Maughan is still covering his ongoing trials.

“I think that, if and when he fails in that appeal, he’ll attempt another, different form of appeal to the Constitutional Court, because that has been his pathology: beating a dead horse and refusing to accept that he was incorrect.”

Zuma’s SLAPP suit was the former President’s final push in his and his followers’ – notably his daughter, Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla – virulent and violent persecution of the award-winning journalist and author.

Maughan withstood the onslaught – with a groundswell of support from her peers – with a resilience that led to the publication of her latest, third book I Will Not Be Silenced.

“I think that we media professionals are going to face increasing bullying tactics, and when you don’t respond to the bullying, they don’t really know what to do with that. Unfortunately, I think this is a feature of life as a journalist going forward, and we just have to find strategies and ways of dealing with that so we can keep doing our jobs.”

 See also: Media organisations condemn former South African president’s SLAPP suit against political journalist

The outcome, too, has been positive: not just in the courts, but also in the impact has been a strengthening of the journalist cause, and a lesson in combating/silencing online trolls. Maughan shares insights and learnings in our latest EDITOR TO EDITOR interview.

… On historic lessons in distorted realities

“I was falsely accused of getting the president’s medical records because I wrote about publicly available documents filed by his own lawyers, who themselves acknowledged didn’t contain any confidential information at the beginning of this whole saga.

And I knew for a fact that what they were saying about me wasn’t true, and that the online accusations – accusing me of being like a racist propagandist and all kind of insults – weren’t true.

I had read history and done many podcasts on people who fought the apartheid system and paid for that with their lives. Some of those bodies have never been recovered … and invariably, there was mass dishonesty about how and why they died.

‘I benefited from the democracy that they fought for because I live in a constitutional democracy where the court system isn’t the apartheid court system, and where you aren’t going to get jailed because some politically powerful person wants you in prison.’

That was the biggest thing, for me: my situation was tough, but I think having that historical insight and knowing what this country comes from is so important.

It was hard. It was anxiety-inducing. I did go into a lot of diabetic comas. I had to get psychological help, and and and… But it was never going to be something that I was going to give up on precisely because of what people did to get us here.”

Karyn in court with News24 Editor in Chief Adriaan Basson.

… On the authoritarian playbook

“South Africa almost had a dress rehearsal for the capture that the United States is experiencing. We had an administration led by Jacob Zuma, where loyalty to Jacob Zuma was seen as more important than actual ability – so a number of rampantly incompetent or unsuited people were being elevated to positions of power, with the basic premise that they would have to be loyal: Des van Rooyen, the short-lived finance minister, for example.

Simultaneous to that was a concerted attack on the media as fake news, and disavowals of the Gupta Leaks; we were accused of being funded by White Monopoly Capital.

What I find fascinating is that the Trump administration will push this narrative of anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion while appointing people who are manifestly not the best for the job, but where the whole issue is that you must swear loyalty to them.

‘It’s also interesting that the courts and journalism in Trump’s America are coming under attack in the way that they did here – that’s not a coincidence; all those institutions, which are the guardrails to untrammelled power, are under attack now…’

In Mein Kampf Hitler writes about propaganda, and he says you always appeal to the least intellectual of the class that you’re trying to affect. It wasn’t coincidental that the Nazis, in addition to horrific extermination of Jews and communists, targeted intellectuals,  journalists and scientists.

So did the apartheid state.

A lesson for all of us is that no legitimate authority is ever going to have a problem with being asked questions, and with critical journalism. If it does, you have to question their basic commitment to democracy; because democracy is a marketplace of ideas – and people do have a right to express themselves.” 

‘Thank God South Africa is a constitutional democracy. It did take nine years, and it did take a lot of fighting and litigation. But in the end, Jacob Zuma was taken out of office.’

… On trumping the trolls – with truth

“Social media cannot be a barometer for how we see humanity and public perception on issues, because there is a very firm mobilisation of individuals and bots hounding people who disrupt or push back against ideologically-driven misinformation.

It’s happening all over the world, and we face a real threat: that we essentially relinquish truth, and get bullied into silence.

My difficulty with this is that we do have real issues in South Africa: we have the legacy of apartheid, which fundamentally disenfranchised the vast majority of people in this country, and the land question sits very firmly within this issue of redress and reform.

But if we make a decision to allow the screaming to silence us from speaking in a clear voice about what is actually happening, we run the risk of the real issues that our country is facing not being addressed because we’re too busy trying to put out make-believe fires.

In instances that I have actually reached out to people and engaged with them, they almost always back off or, nine times out of 10, they’ll apologise. 

Mostly, they don’t actually see me as a human being. I think that was an important lesson for me to learn: that they don’t actually see us as people. You realise that people aren’t really wanting to have a conversation; they just wanna scream at you.”

Former News24 journalist Qaanitah Hunter with Karyn Maughan, fronting a picket outside court

… On Strength, safety, mental health – and positive outcomes

“I work for an amazing organisation; News24 spent an insane amount of money on getting the absolute best lawyers to defend me, and they got judgments that now protect other journalists and actually protected some of my very colleagues in the ‘Alex Mafia’ case.

And it’s been really amazing for me to see Maughan vs Zuma being quoted in judgments for other journalists. For that alone, it was worth it. If we can prevent this ever happening to another reporter, then it was worth it.

My biggest apprehension is particularly for younger journalists because they need support, coming into this environment. We have to have safe spaces where they can say: ‘I’m struggling,’– and not feel they’re going to be judged.

In the book I write about how I realised, through this experience, that strength isn’t about being completely unfazed by people’s attacks on you; strength is actually realising that it does affect you, and getting the help that you need.

I often feel that this is more difficult for younger colleagues.

So, get the help, get the psychological support, enforce your boundaries where you need to. Stay off social media and then get out there in the real world. Go for walks. Go to a dog park. Dogs are amazing.

I think it’s like a lesson for life that oftentimes we fixate on the really horrific stuff – and you need to go out there and watch videos of pandas or, better yet, go and play with the dog and just realise: you’re in the midst of this, like, weird fake world where people claim to hate you. But out here, in the real world, there’s a lot who think you’re the best. And quite frankly, they trump everyone else. 

Also see (extract): I Will Not Be Silenced — Inside Zuma’s online harassment campaign to keep journalist Karyn Maughan quiet