South Africa: Zimbabwean journalist found hanged in Johannesburg home
| Publisher | Reporters Without Borders |
| Publication Date | 13 August 2012 |
| Cite as | Reporters Without Borders, South Africa: Zimbabwean journalist found hanged in Johannesburg home, 13 August 2012, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57bc208615.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 13, 2012
The South African police are investigating the death of Zimbabwean writer and journalist Heidi Holland, whose body was found hanged in the garden of her home in the Johannesburg suburb of Melville on 11 August.
"We trust that the South African police will succeed in establishing whether Heidi Holland took her own life or whether she was murdered," Reporters Without Borders said.
Police spokesman Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale said Holland's gardener alerted the police after discovering the body on the morning of 11 August. Nothing had been stolen from her home, she said.
Aged 64, Holland was the author of the 2008 book "Dinner with Mugabe," which was based on her interviews with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and people close to him over more than 30 years. It traced his rise to power and transformation from independence hero into authoritarian ruler.
A freelance journalist who reported for several newspapers and sometimes wrote columns for the Johannesburg-based The Star, she was also the author of "100 years of struggle: Mandela's ANC" about South Africa's ruling African National Congress.
