The now legendary No Guts, No Story, No Glory seminar will then be held again.

The first regional seminar of the Forum for Community Journalists (FCJ) was in 1994 at the Botshabelo mission station just outside Middelburg.

The first guest speaker was an election observer from the Netherlands, Jan Jansen.

The second seminar was at Witbank Correctional Services, where the first chairman of the FCJ, Frans Aucamp, talked about investigative journalism. He said that if journalists do not dare, they will not get the story and neither will they get the glory. Since then, the seminar has been known as the ‘No Guts’ seminar and is presented nationwide under the No Guts, No Glory, No Story banner.

Over the years, various interesting places have been visited, such as Kruisrivier, Graceland, Forever Loskopdam, Forever Warmbad, Carousel, and Sondela.

The record number of seminar attendees was 120, with 90 attending last year at Olifants River Lodge.

This year, heavyweight speakers will include Mike Masina and Gerrie Nel.

The programme kicks off on Thursday evening with veteran photographer Wessel Oosthuizen, who will inspire journalists with stories about his 60 years in the industry. The evening will conclude with a braai in the beautiful Olifants River Lodge scenery.

On Friday morning, the new Executive Director of the Press Council of South Africa, Phathiswa Magopeni, will be welcomed and will talk about the Press Council and community press.

There will also be a farewell to the previous executive director, Latiefa Mobara, whose topic will be upholding ethics in transition.

Journalists will then get their cameras out with accomplished photographer Johan Orton, who will talk about ‘chasing the light’.

After the journalists enjoy brunch, advocate Gerrie Nel, head of AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, will speak about the collapsed criminal justice system and how the community press can help.

The day will conclude with the previous municipal mayor, Mike Masina, who will review the 2026 municipal election.