WATCH: Former mayor Mike hails community journos bastions of democracy
There's never been a greater need for on the ground journalists.
Former Middelburg mayor Mike Masina praised community journalists at the recent annual No Guts, No Glory seminar, where he addressed more than 90 journalists from Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and Gauteng as one of the event’s speakers, alongside Advocate Gerrie Nel.
Masina said that community journalists were the true watchdogs of democracy, having the ability to infiltrate grassroots communities where ‘bread and butter’ issues around service delivery are felt the harshest.
@middelburgobserver Video 1 – Former Middelburg mayor Mike Masina addressing more than 90 community journalists at the recent No Guts, No Glory Seminar, where he spoke on the the importance of hyper local reporting, as well as where politics are heading.
He highlighted a recent exposé by the Middelburg Observer into financial and tender irregularities pertaining to the construction of the Mhluzi intake substation, a project worth an estimated R30m, which ballooned into R179m, which Masina said ‘was done to benefit politicians and high-ranking officials’.
He praised the paper for the courage to dig and expose ‘corruption’, which has resulted in more than R500m in municipal reserves disappearing.
@middelburgobserver Video 2 – Former Middelburg mayor Mike Masina addressing more than 90 community journalists at the recent No Guts, No Glory Seminar, where he spoke on the the importance of hyper local reporting, as well as where politics are heading.
In the run-up to the 2026 elections, Masina said that community journalists should capitalise on the ‘euphoria’ surrounding national dialogue by facilitating community discussions at grassroots levels to address government shortcomings and the future political landscape, not only in Middelburg, but countrywide.
He said that national and provincial politicians were out of touch with ordinary taxpayers, but, nonetheless, interfere with how things are run at the bottom of the government totem pole.
@middelburgobserver Video 3 – Former Middelburg mayor Mike Masina addressing more than 90 community journalists at the recent No Guts, No Glory Seminar, where he spoke on the the importance of hyper local reporting, as well as where politics are heading.
He said that it was at the bottom, where the bread and butter issues around failed service delivery are most harshly felt.
He lambasted the STLM council for rejecting a forensic report into the wasteful and irregular spending on the Mhluzi substation.
@middelburgobserver Video 4 – Former Middelburg mayor Mike Masina addressing more than 90 community journalists at the recent No Guts, No Glory Seminar, where he spoke on the the importance of hyper local reporting, as well as where politics are heading.
The report was rejected by the ANC and EFF in a majority vote of 26 against the opposition’s 20.
The Middelburg and Hendrina Residents Front (MHRF) abstained from the vote.
The 2026 local government elections are set to take place early next year.
During the last elections, the ANC lost its outright majority in what is now a hung council.
The council has an ANC mayor, MHRF speaker and DA Section 79 committee chairpersons.
