Sebabatso Neo Mosamo, a South African visual Journalist who documented the Marikana Massacre has died. Image: Mosamo Family.
(The Post News)– Sebabatso Neo Mosamo, a South African visual journalist who documented the Marikana Massacre, has died. The 39-year-old journalist died at a hospital in Johannesburg on Saturday after falling ill a week earlier, a family spokesperson said.
Mosamo arrived at Marikana a day after the shootings, and with miners still in a tense standoff with police, she was using photos and video to tell intimate stories. She co-wrote a book on Marikana, titled “We Are Going To Kill Each Other Today,” and produced a documentary about violence in rural South Africa. She joined the Associated Press (AP) in 2021. Mosamo documented elections, the Covid-19 pandemic, and her country’s struggle with poverty and violence.
In an interview with South African television station Newzroom Afrika on the 10th anniversary of the massacre, Mosamo said she wanted to capture some human elements. She connected with her subjects on a personal level and managed to find moments of humor and kindness amid the violence; a colleague photographed miners beside her looking fascinated as she shared images she had taken of them.
Mosamo said she wanted to be on the ground for the Marikana Massacre even though it was very intimidating. She stood out as one of the few female journalists. She told Newzroom Afrika that she only had an entry-level camera with no zoom lens, so she had to “zoom in with her feet,” meaning she had to be very close to capture images of angry miners, despite the threat of more violence.
AP sends condolences to the Mosamo family.
AP Executive Editor and Senior Vice President Julie Pace said Sebabatso was passionate about the work she did, and her journalism was integral to the world’s understanding of her home country. But you only needed to speak with her for a few minutes to see that her true passion was being a mother. “We are heartbroken for her daughter and entire family.”
An award-winning multimedia journalist covered tumultuous elections in Zimbabwe, the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on the poorest South Africans, a cholera crisis in Zambia, and the seismic 2024 vote in South Africa that ended the African National Congress party’s 30-year majority.
One of her most memorable stories was capturing how poor, rural South African children still walk miles to get to school—yet she reminisced more about getting to know them and their families than taking the photos and video.
AP news manager and mentor to Mosamo Vicki Ferrar described her as a fighter; she said Mosamo fought so hard for stories and getting them right, according to Ferrar, adding that she was also energized by discussing story ideas and collaborating with colleagues.She is survived by a young daughter, her mother, and two brothers.
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