ABOUT ME
I am a storyteller working at the intersection of investigative journalism, digital strategy and creative public engagement. Over the past decade I have built campaigns, teams and multimedia projects that help people understand how power operates—from corruption and war to climate justice and social welfare. Whether producing a documentary, leading an investigative campaign, managing a creative team or growing a fundraising community, I am interested in one thing: translating complex ideas into stories that move people.
Documentaries and Short Videos
My Role: Producer, Director, Editor, Voice Over and Investigator
The chilling story of how Willem ‘Ters’ Ehlers, a South African, facilitated the sale of weapons from the Seychelles to Rwanda during the peak of the Rwandan Genocide.
This investigation is a call for action to South African authorities to investigate and potentially prosecute Ehlers for aiding and abetting the Rwandan Genocide.
Role: Producer
In a country shadowed by smokescreens and broken promises, We Can’t See the Sunset is a haunting journey into the human cost of the climate crisis.
Through interviews with Open Secrets investigator Zen Mathe and testimonies from mining-affected communities, the documentary lays bare the corruption, exploitation, and corporate impunity driving South Africa’s environmental collapse.
Role: Concept Note Writer, Event Organiser, Producer of Documentary, Co-curator of Art Exhibition, and Designer and Editor of the Zine.
Producer of the video capturing the event.
On 14 May 2025, We Can’t See the Sunset: Echoes of a Just Transition brought together communities, activists, and organisations for a powerful day of art, activism, and accountability. Held as a continuation of the 2024 People’s Hearing on Energy Profiteers, the event offered an urgent and creative platform to confront climate injustice and demand a truly just energy transition.
Role: Live Stream Manager
In this special live episode of Politically Aweh, host KG Mokgadi is joined by co-host Onke Ngcuka, Daily Maverick‘s Suné Payne and Open Secrets’ Letlhogonolo Letshele to unpack South Africa’s latest political scandals—from Donald Trump’s Afrikaner refugee offer and turmoil within the EFF to allegations of corruption in the MK Party, government, the private sector and rural municipalities. Plus, a familiar face makes a hilarious return, played by Keeno-Lee Hector.
Podcasts
The Tenderpreneur and the Printing Firm: Wicknell Chivayo and Renform (2024)
Creative Roll: Producer, Host, Music and Sound mixing and editing, Research and Investigation
In this podcast, Mamello Mosiana unpacks Zimbabwe’s latest corruption scandal, centred on allegations of money laundering, abuse of office, and an allegedly inflated tender awarded by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to South African company Ren-Form. At the heart of the controversy is politically connected businessman Wicknell Chivayo, with leaked audio and documents suggesting hundreds of millions of rand were siphoned through the deal.
Joined by Owen Gagare, editor of The NewsHawks, and Michael Marchant, Head of Investigations at Open Secrets, Mamello explores the mechanics of the scandal, its cross-border implications, and what it reveals about corruption and accountability in Zimbabwe. Update: Although the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) closed its investigation into Chivayo in December 2025, citing a lack of contractual evidence linking him to the tender, South African authorities continue to investigate after the Financial Intelligence Centre found that Ren-Form received more than R1 billion from Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Finance, with over R800 million allegedly transferred to accounts linked to Chivayo.
We Stand with Yemen
Creative Roll: Host, Editor, Sound mixing, Script writer
An explainer of Open Secrets’ and the Southern Africa Litigation Center’s (SALC) court application to have the South African government review decisions to export arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Hosted by: Mamello
Investigative Reports
Role: Lead Author
Creative Role: Design conceptualisation
Co-Author/ Contributor and Design Concept
BOOKS
Employment History
Recent and Current Employment and Board Memberships
Open Secrets |Head of Campaigns (2021-2026)
- Manage Campaigns unit
- Oversee website design, content creation, and SEO to enhance online presence.
- Branding: logo design, content librarry anf merchandising to ensure cohesive identity.
- Manage multimedia content production: videos, docu-podcasts, and infographics.
- Create and manage donation platforms and individual donor programme
- Strategize and execute social media, campaign, and media plans.
- Plan and coordinate events
- Project management
- Fundraising: donor reports, applications and funder relationship management
Corruption Tracker | Steering Committee Member (2023-current)
- Strategic oversight
- Risk management
- Fundraising support
- Advocacy and Social Media Support
- Policy development
10% for All (Member) 2025-Current)
- Steering Committee: Advocacy and Social Media Support
- Campaign Strategy Development
- Campaigner
- Recruting new member organisations
Politically Aweh (March-May 2025, February 2026-May 2026)
Freelance Social Media and Digital Engagement Manager
- Manage and oversee all social media accounts, including content planning, posting, engagement, and performance tracking
- Write, design and distribute newsletters
- Develop and execute episode-based campaigns
- Act as a media liaison
- Website management
- Participate in writing rooms, contributing to story development, scripting and narrative direction
- Assist and create content on shoot days
Past Employment
Freelance, Internships, Academia and Early Work
- Researcher: Advocacy and Investigations (October 2019-May 2021)
- Intern: Communications and Advocacy (January – October 2019)
International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)
- Remote Intern (Jun-Nov 2016)
University of Cape Town | Political Studies Department
- Guest Lecturer (2019)
- Guest Lecturer POL3030F: Conflict in World Politics (February- June 2020)
- Guest Lecturer POL1000S: Introduction to Politics B (July December 2020)
- Research Assistant: Associate Professor Helen Scanlon (UCT)J Jun-Oct 2015
University of Cape Town | Gender Studies
Graduate Teaching Assistant
- Research Assistant for Professor Rashida Manjoo (United Nations Rapporteur and UCT Professor) Gender and Transitional Justice (October-September 2016)
- Senior Secretary | Gender Studies Department (2016)
Tutor
- Research Assistant for Professor Rashida Manjoo (United Nations Rapporteur and UCT Professor) Gender and Transitional Justice (October-September 2016)
- Senior Secretary | Gender Studies Department (2016)
- Administration Assistant
Volunteer Work
- Scalabrini (2015) Volunteer English Teacher
- Research Assistant for Professor Rashida Manjoo (United Nations Rapporteur and UCT Professor) Gender and Transitional Justice (October-September 2016)
- Senior Secretary | Gender Studies Department (2016)
- Administration Assistant
Skills and Qualifications
Degrees
- Master of Philosophy (MPhil): Justice and Transformation, University of Cape Town (2018)
- Thesis Title: The invention of a nation: The Rainbow Nation Myth, an ideological strait-jacket on a society turning in on itself.
- Master of Science (MSC): Security, Leadership and Society, Kings College London
- Thesis Title: Girls Associated with Armed Groups: Complex Victims in Grey Areas (A Phenomenological Study)
- Bachelor of Arts Honours (BA Honours): Justice and Transformation, University of Cape Town
- Thesis Title: Should Transitional Justice mechanisms address socio-economic crimes like famine in post-conflict settings? An empirical case study of the famines in Sudan.
- Bachelor of Arts majoring in Political Studies, Economic History and Arabic Language and Literature
Fellowships, Awards and Grants
- African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award 2023, Second Runner Up for The Secretary: How Middlemen and Corporations armed the Rwandan Genocide Other Universals Project Fellow (AW Mellon Foundation) (2019- 2021)
- International Peace Institute (IPI) African Junior Professionals Fellow (2018)
- National Research Foundation (NRF) Innovation Master’s Scholarship (2017)
- UCT Deans Merit List (2012; 2013; 2014)
- Golden Key Member (2012- current)
- First Runner Up Anglo American Sowetan Young Communicators Awards (Free State Round); First in Anglo American Sowetan Young Communicators Awards (Motheo District Round); First in Anglo American Sowetan Young Communicators Awards (Bloemfontein Schools Round) (2011)
Certificates
- LeadMe Leadership Academy | Management Training Course (2022-2023)
- Radio Workshop | Podcast Production (2021)
- Sound Africa and Human Rights Media Centre | Podcasting for Beginners (2020)
- Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) (2017)
Languages
- English- (Fluent- First Language): read, write, speak
- Sesotho (home language) : speak, write, read
- Setswana (home language): speak, read, write
- Arabic (BA major) : read, write
- Afrikaans (NCF- First Additional Language): read, write
Skills
- Project Management
- Writing and Copy Editing
Airtable - WordPress Pro
- Data Journalism
- Campaign and Social Media Strategy
- Investigative Research and Writing
- Podcast production
- GiveWP Pro
- Local and Individual Donation Platform and Content Management
- MailChimp
- Leadership and Management
- Canva Pro
- Annual Report Drafting
- Digital Marketing
- Fundraising
- Podcast Production
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Loomly
- Sendible
- Descript Pro
- Buffer
- Youtube Pro
- Squarespace
- Yoast SEO
- Google Business Account Management
- Operations and Administration
- Undergraduate Lecturing
- English teaching
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS, AND OTHER PUBLISHED WORKS
- Mamello Mosiana and Michael Marchant (August, 2019), ‘Greasing the Wheels of State Capture: Corporations, Secrecy and Profit’, Heinrich Böll Stiftung: Perspectives: Issue 1.
- Investigator and contributor to Open Secrets’ Unaccountable Series published in the Daily Maverick (2020- 2025).
Opinion Pieces
Sahar Vardi and Mamello Mosiana (2025), ‘The Apartheid Ghost that Haunts the World’, The Continent: Friday Paper, pp. 23-25
Mamello Mosiana and Michael Marchant (2020), Dirty Banks: Oops they’ve done it again, Daily Maverick
Mamello Mosiana, Countless South Africans are owed pension benefits, and yet claiming is a constant battle (2020), Daily Maverick
Mamello Mosiana, Rape culture is a product of systemic and institutionalised patriarchy (2017), Daily Maverick
CONFERENCE PAPERS:
“When Born-frees Declare Themselves Unfree: Black Consciousness and Intersectional Feminism as Decolonial Practice for the South African university” – conference paper for conference on Canada’s and South Africa’s TRC’s at the University of Toronto. (Oct 2016)
Mamello Mosiana and Michael Marchant (2021, ‘Private Sector’s Role in State Capture’, in Nina Callaghan, Robyn Foley and Mark Swilling (ed.), Anatomy of State Capture, (African Sun Media), pp. 358-373.
References are available upon legitimate request. Please see the contact page
mamello.art 