by Thinus Ferreira
eNCA (DStv 403) on Thursday morning calling it "shocking news" announced that its regularly used analyst and anchor of its weekly weekend programme The Fix, Karima Brown, has died from Covid-19. She was 53.
Karima Brown, born Karima Semaar in 1967, was admitted to hospital a few weeks ago and moved to an intensive care unit (ICU) where she has been fighting for her life against the coronavirus.
Karima Brown was placed on a ventilator but her condition steadily worsened and she passed away on Thursday morning.
The family in a statement said that "Karima will be laid to rest in a burial ceremony which will be held in accordance with Islamic rites and traditions. A small number of people will attend the funeral and all Covid-19 regulations will be observed".
"In due course an announcement will be made about a more public memorial service in honour of Karima's life."
Known for her often abrasive style of interviewing, Karima Brown appeared as an analyst on eNCA over several years before she was made the host of The Fix.
"For a long time, Karima has been a robust voice in South Africa’s media landscape. Her years of activism preceded this," says Norman Munzhelele, eNCA managing director, in a brief statement.
"She had a big personality and didn’t shy away from voicing her opinions. Karima believed in hope. She was also a loving mother, a loyal friend and a committed colleague. Her death leaves a massive void for many."
eNCA on Thursday morning on-air paid tribute to Karima Brown saying she was "one of the stalwarts of journalism" and that "she really played a significant role in asking tough questions to those in power trying to get to details and trying to get to the bottom of many tough developments in this country".
eNCA said that Karima Brown was a "very widely respected political commentator and analyst" and that colleagues are shocked at the news.
John Bailey, eNCA managing editor, told Newzroom Afrika in an interview about Karima Brown's death that "it is indeed a sad day for eNCA but also for the broader South African community".
"This is somebody who was completely committed to the cause of journalism and she saw it as a way of also continuing with the activism that she was involved in. She was fierce in her approach and she had strong opinions which obviously didn't sit well with some people, but Karima was that person that we needed in South Africa".
He described her as a "committed person and also a very loving mother to her son and also a good friend to us here at eNCA" and said that she was a mentor for many young and upcoming journalists in South Africa "to tell them to keep asking those difficult questions of those in power".
Besides eNCA the veteran journalist had also worked at Independent Media and Business Day where she often had the inside track and scoop with her deep contacts on the undercurrents and news within the ANC political party.
Her stint at Independent Newspapers under the Sekunjalo boss Iqbal Surve resulted in a fallout among some of her peers.
Kate Skinner, SANEF director, told eNCA that "Karima Brown was very brave and was very courageous in terms of asking the hard questions".
"It's not to say that she wasn't controversial. Some people didn't like her views and at times felt that she was too close to the ruling party - there were those kinds of issues."
Peter Bruce, former Business Day editor, said "many foreign correspondents would often remark how they read her first because she was the more reliable of all of the political correspondents".
He said Karima Brown "was a constellation all of her own. She could do things that other journalists can't do. She could actually call people that other journalists simply can't".
In her career Karima Brown also hosted programmes like Political Capital on CNBC Africa (DStv 410) and The Karima Brown Show on 702 talk radio. She later lodged a complaint accusing 702 of censorship and editorial
interference and her contract wasn't renewed.
Several other eNCA workers and staffers working for eMedia Investments's TV channels and news outfits have already died from Covid-19.
In May 2020 the cameraman Lungile Tom who worked for eNCA and eNews died from Covid-19 related complications as the first South African media worker to die from this coronavirus.
In July 2020 the longtime eNCA graphic designer Michael Wilson passed away from Covid-19.
