About the Author

Allister Sparks (1933-2016) was a prominent South African journalist who, over the course of fifty years, challenged the system of apartheid and criticized the South African government. In 1977 he reported that Steve Biko had been beaten to death by the police. He was the editor of the Sunday Express and the Rand Daily Mail, as well as South Africa correspondent for the Washington Post, Observer, Economist, and Holland's NRC Handelsblad. In 1996 the Media Institute of Southern Africa presented Allister Sparks with its Press Freedom Award.