Friday was one of my favourite days of the year: the announcement of the annual Taco Kuiper award for investigative journalism.
Taco Kuiper was a South African publisher of investment guides who bequeathed his estate to the most prestigious recognition for investigative journalism in South Africa.
The country has a long and proud tradition of investigative journalism: Ruth First, Henry Nxumalo, Janet Wilhelm, Joyce Sikhakhane-Rankin, Joe Thloloe, Max du Preez, Jacques Pauw and others revealed the dark secrets of the apartheid state before 1994.
Some of them like First and Nxumalo were killed for exposing the truth about apartheid's brutality.
After 1994, investigative journalists had much more freedom under a Constitution which champions freedom of expression to keep those in power to account. The courts protect the rights of journalists and have been pivotal in giving journalists access to state documents.
Some of the most memorable investigations in the democratic era were revelations by the Sunday Times and Mail & Guardian of the R70 billion arms deal; the Mail & Guardian's exposé of Jackie Selebi and his links to drug dealers; Beeld and News24's unearthing of the Bosasa/ANC syndicate; Rapport's exposé of Prasa's tall trains, and the #GuptaLeaks.
On Friday, News24 shared the spoils for our investigation into the assassination of Gauteng health finance director Babita Deokaran with Ray Joseph of GroundUp for his series of investigative reports into the corrupt networks at National Lotteries.
It was another proud moment for the state of journalism in South Africa and the realisation that all is not lost as we face poor governance and malfeasance at almost every level of society. In many countries around the world, I would have been prosecuted and imprisoned for many of the articles and columns I have written.
This is not a right I take for granted. The fact that journalists in this country are allowed to investigate anyone - from the president to a school without proper toilets - without fear or favour, is reason to celebrate this week's Freedom Day.
The long list of finalists showed investigative journalism in South Africa is alive and well. Those who feared probing, in-depth reporting would disappear with newspapers were wrong.
In truth, the digital format allows a much richer presentation of investigative reports with video, sound, interactive graphics, and audio than what print allowed.
Quality journalism is not linked to a specific format, whether it's ink and paper or short videos. The fact the joint winners of this year's Taco Kuiper award are both digital publications - News24 and GroundUp - speaks volumes.
The runner-up was TimesLive, also a digital publication, for its investigation into the links between "zama zamas", tavern shootings and Lesotho politics.
At the launch of News24's Silenced documentary on Thursday evening, investigative journalist Jeff Wicks, who leads our investigation into Deokaran's murder and the obscene tender corruption at Tembisa Hospital, emphasised the importance of whistle blowers in enabling us to do our jobs.
Without them, we would struggle to penetrate the inner workings of corrupt networks, whether in the public or private sector. Often, they pay a high price for doing the right thing.
Prasa whistle blower Martha Ngoye, who is currently on suspension for revealing corruption at the rail agency, attended the launch of the Silenced documentary and said she was struggling to keep up with legal fees while having to fund her daughter's education. She is a single mother.
"My lawyers are preparing summons against me while Prasa uses taxpayers' money to brief the top lawyers and advocates in the country to act against me," Ngoye said.
While the Department of Justice is finalising new legislation to protect whistle blowers, Ngoye made a plea for people like her and Deokaran to be seen as "corruption busters".
Ngoye recently joined other corruption busters to establish the South African chapter of The Whistleblower House, an organisation that assists whistle blowers with financial, legal and mental health support. As she explained, the effects of blowing the whistle could be devastating of an individual and their families.
On this Freedom Day, let's stand up for and protect our journalists and whistle blowers.
Subscribe to news publications you trust, contribute to organisations like The Whistleblower House, Corruption Watch or OUTA and make your voice heard on social media and in the streets to pressurise the authorities to catch Babita's real killers and stop bullying Martha.
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