Sam Sole

Sole's father was Donald Sole, a diplomat who during Sole's childhood was the South African Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany and then the South African Ambassador to the United States.{{Cite web |date=2003-12-20 |title=Embassy of miracle and wonder |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-12-21-embassy-of-miracle-and-wonder/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Sole was a boarding student at the South African College Schools (SACS) in Cape Town, where he acquired the nickname "Sam" from his English teacher.{{Cite web |last=Sole |first=Sam |date=21 December 2023 |title=Stepping up and stepping out |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/guestcolumn/sam-sole-stepping-up-and-stepping-out-20231221 |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=News24 |language=en-US}} After matriculating in 1979, he failed to persuade his parents to allow him to study drama; instead he enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in computer science at the University of Cape Town but found that he was "neither very good nor very interested". He transferred to a Bachelor of Arts and then dropped out entirely in favour of working.

In mid-1984, after a brief hitchhiking tour of Europe, Sole was conscripted into the South African Defence Force. He later said that he considered leaving the country but enlisted to confront both the "ugly realities" of apartheid-era South Africa and his "doubts about my own courage". He was a rifleman in the 6 South African Infantry Battalion in Grahamstown, which was deployed to nearby townships to quell ongoing civil unrest.

Sole was in the defence force for two years.{{Cite web |last=Sole |first=Sam |date=2019-02-25 |title=To Adri Senekal De Wet: The soul is dead at Independent |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-02-25-to-adri-senekal-de-wet-the-soul-is-dead-at-independent/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} During that time, in 1985, he wrote his first newspaper article, an account of police and military actions in the townships during the prevailing state of emergency; he submitted it to the End Conscription Campaign, which arranged for it to be printed anonymously on the front page of the International Herald Tribune. Later he testified about his experience at the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission.{{Cite web |title=TRC Final Report Volume 4, Section 1: Mr Sam Sole, former conscript in the townships |url=https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/reports/volume4/chapter8/subsection7.htm |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Truth Commission Special Report}}

Sole entered journalism full-time in 1986.{{Cite web |title=Sam Sole |url=https://amabhungane.org/team/sam-sole/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=amaBhungane |language=en-ZA}} He worked at Noseweek and at the Sunday Tribune in Durban, where he was political editor. During the post-apartheid transition of the 1990s, he wrote about third force political violence and the apartheid state's chemical warfare programme.{{Cite web |last=Haffajee |first=Ferial |date=2019-09-22 |title=Sam Sole & Stefaans Brummer took on the surveillance state, and won |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-09-22-sam-sole-stefaans-brummer-took-on-the-surveillance-state-and-won/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} He also served a term as president of the South African Union of Journalists.{{Cite web |date=1996-10-04 |title=Good and rotten eggs of Noseweek trial |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1996-10-04-good-and-rotten-eggs-of-noseweek-trial/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

In 2002 Sole joined the Mail & Guardian (M&G) as an investigative journalist. M&G editor Howard Barrell later said that he recruited Sole and his colleague Stefaans Brümmer through "wooing and waiting".{{Cite web |last=Barrell |first=Howard |date=2005-11-24 |title=Never just a newzzzpaper |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2005-11-24-never-just-a-newzzzpaper/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} At the newspaper, Sole launched a series of award-winning investigations into political corruption in South Africa, often writing with Brümmer {{See below|content=below}}.

In 2010, Sole and Brümmer launched the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, branded as amaBhungane; a spin-off of the M&G's existing investigative unit, it was a semi-autonomous non-profit organisation for investigative journalism.{{Cite web |date=2016-04-01 |title=Goodbye, hello from amaBhungane |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2016-04-01-goodbye-hello-from-amabhungane-1/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} The model for the centre was inspired by the non-profit Bureau of Investigative Journalism and ProPublica, and in its first fiscal year it received two-thirds of its funding from M&G and the other third from the Open Society Foundation.{{Cite web |last=Schmidt |first=Christine |date=31 January 2018 |title=Digging for dung, unearthing corruption: This South African investigative nonprofit could help take down the president |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/01/digging-for-dung-unearthing-corruption-this-south-african-investigative-nonprofit-could-help-take-down-the-president/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Nieman Lab}}{{Cite web |date=2010-04-23 |title=Fertilising SA's rotting ecosystem: M&G's new investigative journalism centre |url=http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-04-20-fertilising-sas-rotting-ecosystem-mgs-new-investigative-journalism-centre |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Daily Maverick|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423040500/http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2010-04-20-fertilising-sas-rotting-ecosystem-mgs-new-investigative-journalism-centre |archive-date=23 April 2010 }} Before launching it grew from three staff members – Sole, Brümmer, and Adriaan Basson – to five. The centre published its first article in the M&G on 19 March 2010 under the title "Zuma Inc.", a mapping of the business interests of individuals close to the recently elected President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.{{Cite web |date=2010-03-19 |title=Zuma Incorporated |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2010-03-19-zuma-incorporated/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=2010-03-19 |title=Keeping it in the family |url=https://amabhungane.org/keeping-it-in-the-family/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=amaBhungane |language=en-ZA}}

In April 2016, amaBhungane became an entirely independent organisation, terminating its exclusivity agreement with the M&G. Initially serving as managing director alongside Brümmer, Sole became the centre's sole managing director in 2021 when Brümmer stepped down.{{Cite web |last=Villiers |first=James de |date=21 August 2021 |title=Stefaans Brümmer, amaBhungane co-founder, on crooks, graft and why he's moving on |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/analysis/saturday-profile-the-man-behind-guptaleaks-and-arms-deal-exposes-and-why-hes-moving-on-20210821 |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Bartlett |first=Kate |date=16 July 2024 |title=Fighting State Capture Through Collaboration: How amaBhungane Has Redefined Investigative Journalism in Southern Africa |url=https://gijn.org/stories/amabhungane-member-profile/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Global Investigative Journalism Network |language=en-US}} He is also a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.{{Cite web |title=ICIJ Member Sam Sole |url=https://www.icij.org/journalists/sam-sole/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=International Consortium of Investigative Journalists |language=en-US}}

On 29 November 2002, still in his first year at the M&G, Sole broke the story of an ongoing criminal investigation into Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who was suspected of soliciting bribes from contractors in the 1999 Arms Deal.{{Cite web |last=Sole |first=Sam |date=2002-11-29 |title=Scorpions probe Jacob Zuma |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2002-11-29-scorpions-probe-jacob-zuma/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} For that story Sole won the inaugural Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award of 2002.{{Cite news |date=29 September 2011 |title=Past winners – Vodacom Journalist of the Year |url=https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/past-winners/ |access-date=21 July 2024 |work=SABC News}}{{Cite web |date=2003-09-26 |title=Another award comes home |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-09-26-another-award-comes-home/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

The next year, Sole and Brümmer's investigations into Oilgate and the Oil-for-Food Programme won them the 2003 Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Award for investigative journalism.{{Cite web |date=6 May 2004 |title=Mondi Newspaper 2003 Award winners shine... |url=https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/90/3507.html |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Bizcommunity |language=en}} For further reporting on the same subject in 2005, with Wisani wa ka Ngobeni as third co-author, they won the same Mondi Shanduka award,{{Cite web |date=5 April 2006 |title=All the Mondi Shanduka Newspaper journalist winners |url=https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/90/9806.html |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Bizcommunity |language=en}} the Media Institute of Southern Africa's John Manyarara Investigative Journalism Award,{{Cite web |date=2006-08-29 |title=M&G Oilgate team doubly awarded for reports |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-08-29-mg-oilgate-team-doubly-awarded-for-reports/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} and (shared with Bruce Cameron) the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award.{{Cite web |date=2006-10-30 |title=M&G wins top award for Oilgate reporting |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2006-10-30-mg-wins-top-award-for-oilgate-reporting/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

For reporting on Jackie Selebi's ties to Brett Kebble, published in 2006 and 2007, Sole, Brümmer, and colleagues won the 2006 Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Award for investigative journalism,{{Cite web |last=Kruger |first=Franz |date=26 April 2007 |title=Kebble story brings honours to two papers |url=https://journalism.co.za/kebble-story-brings-honours-to-two-papers/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Journalism.co.za |language=en-GB}} as well as the Mondi Shanduka South African Story of the Year Award in both 2006 and 2007.{{Cite web |date=2008-04-09 |title=Mail & Guardian team wins SA Story of the Year |url=https://www.mediaupdate.co.za/media/9692/breaking-news-mail--guardian-team-wins-sa-story-of-the-year |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Media Update |language=en}} They were the joint runners-up for the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism in both years.{{cite news |date=27 April 2007 |title=Taco Kuiper Award Winners |url=http://www.journalism.co.za/taco-kuiper-award-winners/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625203043/http://www.journalism.co.za/taco-kuiper-award-winners/ |archive-date=25 June 2014 |access-date=23 July 2014 |newspaper=Journalism.co.za |via=University of the Witwatersrand}}{{Cite web |last=Kruger |first=Franz |date=28 June 2008 |title=Judges' remarks for 2007 Taco Kuiper prize |url=https://journalism.co.za/judges-remarks-for-2007-taco-kuiper-prize/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Journalism.co.za |language=en-GB}}

Shortly thereafter Sole received the 2008 Taco Kuiper Award jointly with Brümmer and Adriaan Basson for further exposés of corruption in the Arms Deal;{{Cite web |date=2009-04-17 |title=M&G investigative journalists scoop prestigious award |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-04-17-mg-investigative-journalists-scoop-prestigious-award/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} they were also finalists for the Mondi Shanduka investigative journalism award that year.{{Cite web |date=2009-05-06 |title=M&G lauded at Mondi Awards |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-05-06-mg-lauded-at-mondi-awards/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

AmaBhungane's first exposé, "Zuma Inc.", won the 2010 Mondi Shanduka South African Story of the Year.{{Cite web |date=2011-05-11 |title=M&G's Mondi triumph: Journalism is a team sport |url=https://amabhungane.org/mgs-mondi-triumph-journalism-is-a-team-sport/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=amaBhungane |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=2011-05-10 |title=Story of the Year: The M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism (amaBhungane) |url=https://themediaonline.co.za/2011/05/story-of-the-year-the-mg-centre-for-investigative-journalism-amabhungane/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Media Online |language=en-US}} Sole was also the joint winner of the 2010 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award for best feature for amaBhungane's series on Radovan Krejčir, written by Sole, Brümmer, and Ilham Rawoot.{{Cite web |date=2011-11-07 |title=amaBhungane wins Vodacom's best feature award |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2011-11-07-amabhungane-wins-vodacoms-best-feature-award/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

He, Brümmer, and amaBhungane's Vinayak Bhardwaj won the 2013 Taco Kuiper Award for their investigation into state-sponsored upgrades at President Zuma's Nkandla residence.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-11 |title=AmaBhungane clinches Taco Kuiper award for Nkandla files |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2014-04-11-amabhungane-clinches-taco-kuiper-award-for-nkandla-files/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=15 April 2014 |title=South African Awards Showcase Impressive Investigations |url=https://gijn.org/stories/south-african-awards-showcase-impressive-investigations/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Global Investigative Journalism Network |language=en-US}}

During the second term of Zuma's presidency, Sole and amaBhungane investigated state capture by the Gupta brothers and other Zuma allies. Notably, in 2017 Daily Maverick editor Branko Brkic recruited amaBhungane, and later News24, for a joint investigation of the so-called Gupta Leaks.{{Cite web |date=2018-12-20 |title=Uncaptured: How it all began |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-12-20-00-uncaptured-how-it-all-began/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Members of the three investigative units, including Sole, were the joint winners of several journalism awards for that investigation, including the 2017 Taco Kuiper Award, the 2017 Standard Bank Sikuvile Award for investigative journalism,{{Cite web |date=2018-09-14 |title=All the Standard Bank Sikuvile Award winners |url=https://themediaonline.co.za/2018/09/all-the-standard-bank-sikuvile-award-winners/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=The Media Online |language=en-US}} and the 2019 Global Shining Light Award.{{Cite web |last=Harber |first=Anton |date=21 March 2018 |title=South Africa's Extraordinary Year: Journalists Turn the Tide Against Corruption |url=https://gijn.org/stories/south-africas-extraordinary-year-journalists-turn-tide-corruption/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Global Investigative Journalism Network |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2019-09-28 |title=Investigations From Peru, Philippines, South Africa Win Global Shining Light Award |url=https://gijc2019.org/2019/09/28/investigations-from-peru-philippines-south-africa-win-global-shining-light-award/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2019 |language=en-US}} Sole was also shortlisted separately for the 2017 Taco Kuiper Award for reporting with Susan Comrie on the involvement of McKinsey & Company in Gupta-linked public contracts.

In later years Sole collaborated with a rotation of amaBhungane members. Sole and Comrie were the joint winners of the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award in the finance and economics category in both 2020 and 2021.{{Cite web |date=25 November 2021 |title=Overall Winners of 2021 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards announced |url=https://www.vodacom.com/news-article.php?articleID=7721 |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Vodacom Group}}{{Cite web |date=20 November 2020 |title=National Winners Announced at 2020 Vodacom Journalist of the year awards |url=https://www.vodacom.com/news-article.php?articleID=7576#:~:text=These%20factors%20made%20it%20harder,as%20our%20two%20winners,%20both |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Vodacom Group}} Sole, Dewald van Rensburg, and Micah Reddy won the 2022 Sanlam Award for Excellence in Financial Journalism in the business and companies category,{{Cite web |date=4 August 2023 |title=2022 Financial Journalist of the Year Winners |url=https://www.sanlam.com/productcatalog/Pages/2022-financial-journalist-of-the-year-winners.aspx |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Sanlam}} and the same trio were the joint runners-up for the 2023 Taco Kuiper Award for their reporting on Zunaid Moti's business dealings.{{Cite web |last=Dickinson |first=Stuart |date=31 May 2024 |title=Winners announced for the 18th Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism |url=https://journalism.co.za/winners-announced-for-the-18th-taco-kuiper-award-for-investigative-journalism/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Journalism.co.za |language=en-GB |via=University of the Witwatersrand}} The Editors' Forum of Namibia awarded its 2023 Journalist of the Year Award in the environment category to Sole and The Namibian's Timo Shihepo, with whom Sole had investigated the oil exploration activities of ReconAfrica.{{Cite web |date=2023-10-24 |title=EFN thanks sponsors for supporting the 2023 Journalism Awards |url=https://futuremedia.com.na/efn-thanks-sponsors-for-supporting-the-2023-journalism-awards/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Future Media |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Lazarus Amukeshe scoops Journalist of the Year award |url=https://www.nbcnews.na/node/103081 |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Namibian Broadcasting Corporation}}

In 2015 Sole learned from court records, filed in litigation about the spy tapes in Zuma's corruption trial, that the National Intelligence Agency (later the State Security Agency) had intercepted a 2008 phone call between him and a source, prosecutor Billy Downer. In response to a Promotion of Access to Information Act request, the State Security Agency disclosed that it had obtained a warrant to tap Sole's phone under the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA).{{Cite web |date=23 October 2020 |title=Being the target: Sam Sole |url=http://privacyinternational.org/case-study/4253/being-target-sam-sole |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Privacy International |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Quintal |first=Angela |date=2021-02-10 |title=South African journalist Sam Sole on landmark court victory: "2008 surveillance was the tip of the iceberg" |url=https://cpj.org/2021/02/south-african-journalist-sam-sole-on-landmark-court-victory-2008-surveillance-was-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Committee to Protect Journalists |language=en-US}} The disclosure confirmed longstanding suspicions; in 2009 the M&G had lodged an ineffectual complaint with the Inspector-General of Intelligence in connection with reliable reports that Sole and his colleagues, including M&G editor Ferial Haffajee, appeared on the spy tapes.{{Cite web |date=2009-05-22 |title=I spy... |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-05-22-i-spy/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

Right2Know used Sole's case as a case study of state surveillance of journalists in South Africa.{{Cite web |date=2018-07-04 |title=Journalist surveillance: Spooks are back in action |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2018-07-04-journalist-surveillance-spooks-are-back-in-action/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} Meanwhile, on the basis of the State Security Agency's disclosure, Sole and amaBhungane mounted a challenge to the constitutionality of RICA and of bulk surveillance conducted under its auspices. The Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled in their favour on 4 February 2021.{{Cite web |last=Milo |first=Dario |date=2021-02-07 |title=amaBhungane's Rica victory: Big Brother can no longer watch us with impunity |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-02-07-amabhunganes-rica-victory-big-brother-can-no-longer-watch-us-with-impunity/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}} In 2022 Zuma used the tapes to lodge criminal charges against Downer, alleging that they showed that Downer had perpetrated an unlawful leak to Sole in 2008 (as well as to legal journalist Karyn Maughan more recently).{{Cite web |last=Thamm |first=Marianne |date=2022-09-28 |title=Recycle, repackage, repeat — Advocate Billy Downer sets out Jacob Zuma's years of rolling the legal dice to stay out of jail |url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-09-28-recycle-repackage-repeat-billy-downer-sets-out-jacob-zumas-years-of-rolling-the-legal-dice-to-stay-out-of-jail/ |access-date=2024-07-20 |website=Daily Maverick |language=en}}

Sole is married and has two daughters.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Twitter|id=SamSoleZA}}
• [https://amabhungane.org/team/sam-sole/ Sam Sole] at amaBhungane
• {{Muck Rack|id=sam-sole|name=Sam Sole}}
• [https://gijc2017.org/2017/11/18/gijc17-voices-sam-sole/ Sam Sole] at GIJC17 Voices

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century South African journalists

Category:21st-century South African journalists

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sole, Sam}}

Category:Alumni of South African College Schools

Category:Business and financial journalists

Category:South African investigative journalists

Category:South African newspaper journalists

Category:University of Cape Town alumni

Category:White South African people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)