Ferial Haffajee to lead Daily Maverick’s new Johannesburg Bureau

The new newsroom launches with the first edition of its dedicated Johannesburg newsletter, a free publication that will land in inboxes three times a week and expand to daily coverage in 2026. It is Daily Maverick’s second metro bureau to open this year, following the successful launch of its Nelson Mandela Bay Bureau in May.

Haffajee will be supported by veteran Daily Maverick journalist Greg Nicolson and an experienced team of Joburg reporters who live by the city’s pulse. At the heart of the bureau sits an award-winning newsletter team led by John Stupart, crafting a product built to inform, connect and celebrate Joburg. Together, this team of passionate locals is creating journalism that reflects the city they call home, its challenges, its energy and its extraordinary spirit.

Statement from Ferial Haffajee

“I’ve returned to the same beat I held as a young trainee at the Weekly Mail – covering Johannesburg,” said Ferial Haffajee, editor of the new bureau. “I’m a city reporter who wants to help shape a better future for an exciting place. Joburg is a quintessentially African city but so poorly run that my old community, where my family still lives, often has no water or no electricity – sometimes both.”

Background: Johannesburg’s service delivery crisis

Johannesburg’s crisis is visible across every service: persistent water outages, power cuts, uncollected waste, and crumbling roads. In 2025, nearly half of the city’s water supply (46%) was lost to leaks or illegal connections, while ageing infrastructure and cable theft continue to cripple essential services.
“It’s a human-made disaster – the outcome of local state capture,” said Haffajee, adding that she sees a citizen-led shift in Johannesburg’s fortunes. “Jozi my Jozi (the urban social movement), the stirring of the metropolitan government to action by active citizens, the vibrant arts and culture scene, an eye from the Presidency all make for our launch at a moment of hope for shift.”

About the Johannesburg Bureau

The Johannesburg Bureau will report directly from communities across the metro, focusing on four key areas:

• Municipal accountability and service delivery failures
  
• Joy – our motto is “We love this place”
  
• Service – we will show you how to make the city listen
  
• Youth and opportunity, including campus engagement and internship programmes. This is a young city; we serve young people.
  
• Civic culture and community voices, with a “Friyay” edition celebrating Joburg’s creative energy
  
• Inclusive growth and innovation, spotlighting entrepreneurs and social problem-solvers

Stories will be grounded in evidence, focused on solutions, and designed to amplify the voices of residents who are too often ignored.

“Our goal is to restore Johannesburg’s civic heartbeat,” said Haffajee. “To report on a place with care, rigour and ambition is itself an act of civic love.”

Industry context and significance

The bureau’s launch bucks a global and local trend of newsroom closures. South Africa’s journalism workforce has halved in the past 15 years, leaving most cities without consistent local reporting.

“Daily Maverick was founded on mission, not profit,” said Haffajee. “Our margins are thin, our needs abundant – but our impact is significant.”

Daily Maverick’s metro model, first tested in Nelson Mandela Bay, has already produced tangible results, including policy shifts on water access and hospital staffing in the Eastern Cape. The Johannesburg team will replicate this model: sustained, local, and solutions-driven reporting that stays with stories until impact is achieved.

Future growth and community partnerships

The bureau will grow to include additional reporters, a community manager to lead civic partnerships, and a network of interns through collaborations with local universities.

It will operate on Daily Maverick’s hybrid funding model, combining philanthropic grants, ethical advertising, and reader support through the Maverick Insider programme.

As South Africa heads toward the 2026 local elections, the bureau aims to help residents navigate daily life — and demand better from those in power.

“Joburg: We love this place.” That’s the bureau’s vision – and its promise.

Learn more about the new Joburg bureau on the DM blog.

How to support the bureau

There are a few powerful ways you can support the work of the Johannesburg Bureau:

• Subscribe to the Joburg newsletter: The metro’s most pressing issues, now landing in your inbox three times a week – soon to be daily.
  
• Send a tip-off: If you know something that should be investigated, share your information here: https://tally.so/r/3jQk5E. All tips-offs are treated with utmost discretion.
  
• Share the newsletter with friends, family, and community members who care about Joburg – word of mouth makes all the difference.
  
• Join as a Maverick Insider: Your monthly contribution helps fund this bureau and expand our journalism to other cities. Sign up here.