Mandy Wiener is one of the country’s best known and most credible journalists and authors. She currently hosts the Midday Report on 702 and Cape Talk and writes a weekly column for EWN.

She has had a front row seat to current affairs in South Africa for over two decades and has often written the first draft of our country’s history.

In her pre-election keynote, ‘Try the Beloved Country’, she reflects on where we have come from and what the future may look like. This election has the potential to fundamentally change the political landscape in South Africa. There are numerous scenarios that could play out. But what needs to happen to ensure our future is better than our reality is now?

South Africans need to hear that there is a way out and we deserve better and Mandy’s focus is on the ‘Hope Dealers’. She tells the stories of the good people who do their jobs  the civil servants who hold the line, the members of the judiciary who maintain the rule of law, the whistleblowers who feel compelled to speak truth to power, the civil society activists who step into the breach and the journalists who dig up the dirt to hold authorities to account. She considers the importance of changing the narrative of the country. There are lessons in these stories on what needs to be done to improve governance, to change legislation, to create a speak up culture in order to root out corruption and to play a role as responsible citizens.

Most importantly these stories will inspire the audience not to be apathetic or complacent, but rather to fight for a better South Africa.

Mandy has won a number of National and Regional Vodacom ‘Journalist of the Year’ awards, has been the ‘CNN African Radio Journalist of the Year’ and has received several commendations in the Webber Wentzel ‘Legal Journalist of the Year’ awards. In addition, she has received the National Press Club award in the Radio and Social Media categories and was awarded the ‘Rising Star – Women in the Media’ award. ‘The Midday Report’ won ‘Best News and Actuality Show’ at the SA Radio Awards in 2023 and ‘Best Daytime Commercial Radio Show’ in 2024.

On the writing front, Mandy was short-listed in the prestigious Alan Paton Sunday Times Literary Awards for her book, ‘Killing Kebble’, which was a local publishing phenomenon, selling in excess of 100 000 copies. In 2014, she published ‘Behind The Door: The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story’ with her colleague Barry Bateman. Her latest book, ‘The Whistleblowers’, was released in October 2020 and advocates for a societal revolution in how we treat and protect those who speak truth to power in South Africa. An updated edition was released in 2023.