Unisa – The University of South Africa and the National Press Club Announce the 15th Percy Qoboza Memorial Lecture
As South Africa commemorates Black Wednesday on 19 October 2025, the University of South Africa (UNISA) in partnership with the National Press Club and the Qoboza family, are proud to announce the 15th annual Percy Qoboza Memorial Lecture to be held on Wednesday, 22 October 2025 at 18:00 at UNISA’s main campus in Muckleneuk, Pretoria.
Black Wednesday marks the day in 1977 when the apartheid regime banned The World newspaper and detained its editor, Percy Qoboza, along with other journalists and activists. This brutal crackdown on media freedom remains one of the darkest chapters in South Africa’s press history. Yet, it also galvanized a generation of truth-tellers and defenders of democracy.
This year’s lecture theme, “From Qoboza to the Digital Age: Journalism, Justice and the Global Fight for Truth,” invites reflection on the enduring relevance of Qoboza’s ideals and the evolving role of media in shaping democratic societies.
Given the significance of this year’s milestone 15th lecture, it will be preceded by the Department of Communication Science’s Bi-Annual International Conference on Telecommunications and Digitability, held under the theme: “Inclusive Communication Futures: Socio-economics, Cultures and Technologies in the Changing Global Landscape.”
This conference draws direct inspiration from the Percy Qoboza Memorial Lecture theme and will convene global scholars, practitioners and innovators to explore the intersections of media, technology and justice.
Lecture will be delivered by Professor Mandla J. Radebe who is a Professor in the Department of Strategic Communication and the Founding Director of the Centre for Data and Digital Communications at the University of Johannesburg. He holds a PhD in Media studies from Wits University and is an award-winning author of “Constructing Hegemony: The South African Commercial Media and the (Mis)Representation of Nationalism (UKZN Press) as well as,”Apartheid Did Not Die: South Africa’s Unfinished Revolution.”
The event will also feature a distinguished intergenerational panel of media professionals and thought leaders:
• Ms. Sophie Mokoena – Correspondent, International News Desk at the SABC
• Ms. Bongekile Macupe – a journalist at News24 and a former Fellow of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. She is the author of the paper: What it means to be a black African woman navigating South African newsrooms
• Mr. Themba Sepotokele – Author of Being a Spokesperson, Lecturer at The Sol Plaatje Media Leadership Institute at Rhodes University and a Member of the Press Council of South Africa
• Mr. Lennox Klaas – Former Producer and Presenter of Radio Freedom, Lusaka Unit Head in the late 1980s
Members of the Qoboza family will be in attendance, continuing their steadfast support of the lecture series and the legacy it upholds.
About the Percy Qoboza Memorial Lecture:
Established in 2010, the lecture honours the life and work of Percy Qoboza; editor, activist and fearless advocate for media freedom. Through his leadership at The World and Post newspapers, Qoboza’s voice became a beacon of resistance during apartheid and continues to inspire journalists and scholars globally.
Event Details:
Date: Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Time: 18:00
Venue: UNISA Main Campus, Muckleneuk, Pretoria
RSVP: secretariat@nationalpressclub.co.za / 072 984 4673
Join us as we honour the past, confront the present and shape the future of journalism and justice.
Image: Daily Maverick
