Viewfinder is an accountability journalism project in South Africa. Our mission is to conduct long term investigations into abuses of power which impact on the public interest – specifically as it relates to the need for equality and redress – in post-apartheid South African society. Through narrative journalism, documentary filmmaking and inter-newsroom collaborations we make complex findings accessible to audiences across the spectrum of South African news media consumers. We provide our audiences with the knowledge they need to demand accountability from large institutions or powerful people on the specific abuses of power that we expose.
Viewfinder also works to strengthen and support the production of investigative journalism in southern Africa. This we do by providing mentorship, training and editorial support to reporters in the region, in partnership with the Henry Nxumalo Foundation.
Daneel Knoetze, Director
Daneel is the founder, editor and director of Viewfinder. His reporting has focused on police criminality and the failure of police oversight mechanisms in South Africa. This project launched with a major exposé on the country’s police watchdog in October 2019. He was a fellow with US State Department’s Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program in 2017/18, during which time he did a professional affiliation at Reveal from the Centre of Investigative Reporting in San Francisco. Previously he worked as a news reporter and the director of media relations for Ndifuna Ukwazi in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2023 he was awarded the GIJN’s Global Shining Light Award. He is a graduate of Rhodes University and is a rock climber on the weekends. LinkedIn. Email: daneel@viewfinder.org.