Guidelines for grants

Taco Kuiper Grants are made to encourage investigate journalism in South African print media. A fund of up to R350 000 is available annually.

Grants are available for print journalists or print publications seeking pre-publication help for investigative reporting of public interest. Any amount will be considered.

The fund only accepts projects, including book projects, dealing with contemporary issues that affect South Africa.

The fund will not award educational scholarships or grants for professional training.

Applications  will be considered twice a year. The deadline for entires in 28 February and 31 August.

Applicants may be individuals, teams of individuals or a publication. There is no application form. The applicant must write a letter which sets out the subject to be investigated, how and when the work will be undertaken, why the support of the fund is required and a budget. The letter should be supported by a short resume for each individual involved and, wherever possible, a letter of commitment from an editor or publisher to consider publishing the final product.

All applications will be treated in the strictest confidence.

All decisions on grants will be undertaken by a panel whose members will be appointed jointly by the Valley Trust and Wits Journalism. This panel will have sole and final discretion on the grants as well as the criteria used and any conditions attached to them.

Recipients will be required to sign a grant agreement with the fund which stipulates the work to be done, a timeframe and budget. Recipients will be required to report on the progress, outcome and expenditure of the project, to provide copies of all published material and to document the proper use of funds.

The fund will accept no responsibility for the work produced or the conduct of the grantee, but will retain the right to use any material published as a result of a grant for publicity and promotional purposes providing due accreditation is given to the individuals and organisations responsible for the work. The Fund will ask publishers/journalists to give credit to the Fund when material is published as the result of a grant.

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Taco Kuiper Grant News

Truth is a Strange Fruit: A Personal Journey Through the Apartheid War

David Beresford

David Beresford was born in South Africa and moved to the UK in 1974. Joining The Guardian newspaper, he covered the conflicts in Ireland, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the first Gulf War. In 1984, with the outbreak of South Africa’s township rebellions, The Guardian posted him to South Africa. Truth is a Strange Fruit weaves together personal memoir, the story of John Harris who was hanged for his part in the bombing of Johannesburg’s Park Station, told through the letters sent by John as he awaited his execution.

August 2010, Jacana Media, 9781770099029

Fruit of a Poisoned Tree

Antony Altbeker

In Fruit of a Poisoned Tree he takes you into the heat of the epic courtroom battle to defend Fred Van der Vyver against a charge of murder of his girlfriend Inge Lotz. Van de Vyver’s lawyers sought to turn the tables on the police, accusing them of fabricating evidence and lying to the judge. Altbeker’s eye-witness account of the trial presents the reader with the evidence and testimony. A gripping and real life who crime thriller.

Fruit of a Poisoned Tree is Antony Altbeker’s third book about crime and justice in South Africa. His first, The Dirty Work of Democracy, won the Recht Malan prize for non-fiction and was short-listed for the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award. His second, A Country at War with Itself, is widely regarded as the most authoritative popular account of the causes of South Africa’s crime problem and of what to do to fix it.

May 2010, Jonathan Ball Publishers, 9781868423330