- Martin Welz
-
Martin Welz is a South African journalist and the editor of Noseweek magazine. He is best known for his investigative work on controversial issues including government and corporate corruption.
Contents
Early life
Born 19 October 1945, Worcester, Western Cape, South Africa, Martin Sylvester Welz, son of the late Johann Max Friedrich (aka Jean) Welz (1900–1975), a renowned artist and architect from Vienna, Austria, and, Inger (1908–2001), a Danish journalist.
He is one of five brothers: Thomas, Hannes, Jerome, Stephan and Martin.
Stephan, an expert on antiques, took over Sotheby’s Southern African operation which trades as Stephan Welz Sotheby's.
Career
Sunday Times
While working for the Sunday Times in the 1970s, a report by Welz saw a R180-million defamation claim instituted against the paper. He subsequently exposed Adrian Niewoudt's Kubus milk culture pyramid scheme, later exposed as the biggest postal fraud in American history. He was later appointed as a consultant to the US Justice Department and helped expose Frans Theron as the Kubus mastermind in the US. He also worked on South Africa's Info scandal, and helped exposed wrongdoing by apartheid-era cabinet ministers.[1]
Noseweek
Noseweek was founded in Cape Town, South Africa, in June 1993. It contains a minimal amount of advertising and has survived and grown mainly on its sales.
The first lawsuit again the magazine was brought in 1994 by an American millionaire dentist living in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, called Dr Robert Milton Hall. The trial was in 1996 in the Cape High Court before Judge Johann Conradie. Noseweek had, inter alia, pointed out Dr Hall's foreign exchange contraventions and the fact that when the South African authorities found out about this, they allowed him to merely pay tax on his illegal income. Welz has written about this aspect, saying, "But now the doctor may find himself sharing the unique tax status traditionally given to professional prostitutes who are required to pay tax on their illegal earnings.”
The magazine was represented by an attorney and advocates and Welz represented himself. Noseweek and Welz won the case. Judge Johann Conradie presided and in his judgment found that Dr Hall, "... sued not to salvage his reputation but to sustain a colossal fraud." This litigation put the magazine on ice for approximately two years and nearly bankrupted it.
In 2007 Welz represented himself in a court action brought by the FirstRand group to prevent Noseweek from publishing a list of FirstRand clients allegedly involved in a dubious offshore investment scheme. The action was dismissed with costs.[2]
In 2008 Welz broke the news that a ship due to dock in Durban harbour carried a shipment of Chinese weapons bound for Zimbabwe.[3] News of the $1.245 million, 77-ton shipment came via what Welz described as a "a whistle blower of conscience," who supplied Noseweek with a commercial invoice, bill of lading and packing list for the shipment.[4]
Awards
- South African Union of Journalists Thomas Pringle Award for Press Freedom.[5]
- Special mention, 2002 Nat Nakasa Award for Media Integrity & Courageous Journalism.[6]
- Joint business category winner, 2004 Mondi Paper Magazine Awards.[7]
- Honorary award for promoting corporate governance through investigative journalism, 2007 Sanlam Financial Journalist of the Year competition.[8]
References
- ^ "Judge takes Noseweek editor under her wing". Business Report. http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/judge-takes-noseweek-editor-under-her-wing-1.719703. Retrieved 2009-03-18.[dead link]
- ^ "Judge dismisses FirstRand application". Independent Online. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3015&art_id=nw20070920112756845C636212. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ "SOUTH AFRICA-ZIMBABWE: Ship of shame adrift in controversy". Reuters AlertNet. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/cff8974ac0d9cb0cd002e7df38c783bb.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ Dugger, Celia W. (2008-04-19). "Zimbabwe Arms Shipped by China Spark an Uproar". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/19/world/africa/19zimbabwe.html?pagewanted=2&sq=maputo&st=nyt&scp=1. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ "Thomas Pringle Award". Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Pringle_Award. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- ^ "African Eye News Service editor wins Nata Nakasa award". International Journalists' Network. https://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities/african_eye_news_service_editor_wins_nata_nakasa_award. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ "SA's top magazine journalists revealed". MarketingWeb.co.za. http://www.marketingweb.co.za/marketingweb/view/marketingweb/en/page105748?oid=77274&sn=Daily%20news%20detail. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
- ^ "Whitfield is finance journalist of year". Journalism.co.za. http://www.journalism.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1535&Itemid=0. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
Categories:- Living people
- South African journalists
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