George Charamba Pays Tribute to Late South African Journalist Tshidi Madia
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, George Charamba, has paid tribute to respected South African journalist Tshidi Madia, who passed away this week.
Madia, who was the Associate Political Editor at Eyewitness News (EWN), died at the age of 42 after a short illness. Her death has left a huge gap in South Africa’s media landscape.
Posting on his X account under the name Jamwanda2, Charamba described Madia as one of the few journalists who stood firm in her principles. He said she had managed to win respect early in her career, even from the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. According to Charamba, she never gave in to pressures to conform to mainstream media narratives and instead chose to stay true to her convictions.
He wrote:
“HERE IS ONE HELL OF A JOURNALIST WHO HAD IT. LATE VAMUGABE HAD TIME FOR HER, EVEN THEN IN THE EARLY PART OF HER EVENTFUL CAREER. ONE SOUL I HAD TIME FOR AT A TIME WHEN SOUTH AFRICAN MEDIA WAS IN THE IRON-GRIP OF NEO-LIBERAL VALUES. THANK YOU, GIRL; YOU FOUGHT A GOOD, HONOURABLE FIGHT AGAINST A RACIALLY STRUCTURED WORLD ETHOS. YOU SNUBBED ITS TEMPTATIONS, PRINCIPALLY THE COERCIVE PRESSURE TO BELONG AND TO CONFORM TO IT AND ITS PRESUPPOSITIONS. FOREVER REMEMBERED, DEAR SISTER!!! Ichoooo!!!!
”
Her employer, Primedia, confirmed her passing on Wednesday, describing it as a painful loss for her colleagues, friends, and the journalism fraternity.
Madia’s career began humbly at Primedia Broadcasting as an assistant at the EWN traffic desk. From there, she moved to Power FM as a reporter and presenter, before joining News24, where she established herself as one of the country’s most influential political reporters.
She later returned to EWN as a senior political reporter and rose to the role of Associate Editor: Politics. Beyond her newsroom work, she created the popular podcast Politricking with Tshidi Madia, where she interviewed key political figures and gave South Africans deeper insight into the nation’s politics.
Her death has robbed South Africa of a fearless voice in journalism, admired not only for her professional work but also for her courage and integrity.
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