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The Taco Kuiper fund rewards and encourages investigative journalism in South Africa, and was created by millionaire publisher Taco Kuiper, who set up The Valley Trust shortly before his death. In life, Taco was never shy to take on banks and other profiteers of apartheid policy. Today the Wits Journalism Programme partners The Trust to administer the Taco Kuiper Award and Fund.
Taco was a renegade socialite; a very wealthy publisher and also an effective investigative journalist in South Africa.
He made his fortune as the owner and publishing editor of the lucrative "The Investors’ Guide" in Johannesburg, South Africa, a platform he used ruthlessly to expose the many scams in Johannesburg financial circles that bordered on or fell squarely into the bracket of white collar crime. He was also outspoken on the impact apartheid had on making black community poorer.
Born in Indonesia in 1941 to Dutch parents, Taco spent his formative years in a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. His family returned to the Netherlands after the war while Taco was sent to Johannesburg to work for Barclays Bank in the early 1960s.
He soon started his own investment statistical service, working from a tiny flat on Joubert Street in Hillbrow. This formed the basis of what became the foundation for his business and wealth: The Investors' Guide.
The Taco Kuiper funeral
Taco died of cancer on 24 September 2004. Apart from bequeathing an award for investigative journalism in South Africa, he also played a last, sardonic joke on his friends as his funeral. Halfway through the burial, the 92 mourners were asked to sign a register of attendance. Some 60 people did, the others declined. It turned out that Taco had stipulated in his will that everyone who signed would share in a special legacy of ZAR1-million, giving each of the people who were not shy to be associated with Taco ZAR16,000.
2009: Rob Rose’’ from the Financial Mail/Sunday Times won the overall award for his series of articles on fraudster Barry Tannenbaum and the way in which he swindled some of South Africa's biggest and most respected businessmen and investors out of millions kept the country captivated, raising questions on how a seemingly well-connected and influential man could deceive so many of his peers.
Special Mention: The privately-owned Highlands Herald tabloid received special mention for investigative work in the Highlands of the Mpumlanaga province.
2008: Sam Sole, Stefaans Brümmer and Adriaan Basson from the Mail and Guardian for their series of articles “Smokes, sex and the arms deal”.
Runners up: Nicola de Chaud and Odette Schwegier, (producers) and Devi Sankaree Govender (presenter), of Carte Blanche for their programme on ‘Police Corruption in Hammanskraal’ Dumisane Lubisi and Jacky Mapiloko journalists at City Press for their articles on tender corruption in Soweto's Hospital.
2007: Brett Horner, Chandre Prince and Ntando Makhubu journalists from the Daily Dispatch for their expose of neo-natal deaths in the Frere Hospital in the Eastern Cape.
Runners up: Stefaans Brümmer, Stephen Sole, Zukile Majova, Nic Dawes, Adriaan Basson and Pearlie Joubert journalist-team for the Mail and Guardian's for their articles on the scandals of former South African police commissioner, Jackie Selebi.
2006: Adriaan Basson and Carien du Plessis journalists for their series of articles investigating corruption at the Department of Correctional Services in Die Beeld and Die Burger newspapers.
Runners up: Zukile Majova, Stephen Patrick, Sam Sole, Nicholas Dawes and Stefaans Brümmer, journalists for Mail and Guardian for their articles on the Jackie Selebi and Brett Kebble investigation. Fred Kockott and Sibusiso Ngalwa journalists from Sunday Tribune for their article on the abuse of the national Nguni cattle herd by the Ithala Finance Development Corporation in KwaZulu-Natal province.