ONE of South Africa’s leading political commentators, Phillip van Niekerk, has been appointed editor of the Mail & Guardian.
Van Niekerk (40) has been South Africa correspondent of some of the world’s most famous newspapers including The Observer, The Boston Globe, the Toronto Globe and Mail and Volkskrant.
A graduate of Stellenbosch University, he was a political and labour reporter for the Rand Daily Mail until its closure and a frequent contributor to the Weekly Mail from the time of its launch in 1985.
In 1989 Van Niekerk was awarded a fellowship at Harvard University. Last year he won the Ruth First Award for Courageous Journalism – the first time the award had been made – from Rhodes University and was due to take up a fellowship at the University of Leiden later this year.
Van Niekerk has made a number of documentaries for South African and British television. He is currently editor and scriptwriter for a major series on South African history commissioned by the SABC.
In 1992 he narrowly escaped death when he was shot in the head at point-blank range while on assignment in the Vaal Triangle.
He is married to an American journalist, Ellen Bartlett, and has three children – Kate (8), Anna (4) and Molly (1).
Van Niekerk succeeds Anton Harber, the founder editor of the M&G, who recently took up the position of chief executive of a new radio consortium.