In the News

Last month, I was interviewed about freelancing in South Africa by British media magazine Press Gazette:

Postcard from Cape Town, South Africa

With freelance journalist Kristin Palitza

Why South Africa?

Initially, I came here on a year’s sabbatical, to volunteer in a township day care centre for HIV- positive kids and AIDS orphans. That was eight years ago. I became extremely interested in socio- political issues, ranging from health to education, poverty, housing, water/sanitation and food security. So I started writing about these topics for German as well as South African newspapers.

What are your main sources of work?

I regularly write for Inter Press Service, an international news agency focused on humanitarian reporting, and for some South African publications. My articles have also been published in the Sunday Times, City Press, Women’s Health and in some German titles.

What are your biggest challenges?

It’s very tricky to get comment from government here, especially on contentious issues such as HIV, the housing backlog or lack of service delivery. Most officials insist on answering questions via email, and if they get back to you their answers are vague or off the point. And they often make sure they miss your deadline.

What is the best thing about working/living in South Africa?

Because SA is a young democracy, it is a very exciting place to be as a journalist from a political, economical and social development point of view. I also enjoy the diversity of people, cultures, languages and religions. There are not many places in the world like Cape Town, where you can hike up the mountain, go to the beach and the winelands all in one day.

What is on your news list at the moment?

It just came to light that South Africa’s sewerage systems are about to collapse and it will take up to £50m to fix them. This will have severe consequences for service delivery and health. We are also waiting to see if African National Congress NC Youth League president Julius Malema will be disciplined for inflammatory remarks on various political issues, including calling a BBC journalist a “bastard” and “bloody agent”.

What will the World Cup mean to you?

Much excitement, stress and work. SA will be the world’s focus for a month, so there is lots of interest in articles from here. Not being a sports journalist, I will mainly focus on stories around the tournament, such as initiatives to promote soccer in Africa, ‘cleaning up’ the streets of the poor and homeless in time for the World Cup, financial benefits – or not – for ordinary South Africans, the link between soccer fans, sex workers and HIV, crime and so on.

What’s been your worst scrape?

I once visited a very under-resourced, rural public hospital with a Doctors Without Borders team. My article pointed out some pretty shocking shortages in staff, service provision and infrastructure. The health department wasn’t very happy that these issues had come to light and demanded for the article to be withdrawn, claiming I didn’t have permission to enter the hospital. There was lots of intimidation, but Doctors Without Borders had obtained written permission on my behalf, so we could prove that we had followed procedure.

What is your best story/feature?

Last year I received the International Federation of the Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting in Africa for an in-depth feature on small-scale women farmers. There’s a selection of other features on www.kristinpalitza.com.

What’s the competition like?

Last year I received the International Federation of the Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Reporting in Africa for an in-depth feature on small-scale women farmers. There’s a selection of other features on www.kristinpalitza.com.

What’s the cost of living like?

As a foreigner, it’s tough to compete with South African journalists for space in local publications. Most Africa correspondents are either based in South Africa or Nairobi, Kenya and everyone is protective of their turf. But in the end, it’s very much about building relationships with editors – and filing excellent copy.

Any tips?

When I arrived the cost of living was quite low. But all prices have increased steadily. It’s harder to make a living for most South Africans because salaries haven’t increased on the same scale.