Zwelakhe Sisulu began his career in journalism in 1975 when he worked as an intern for South African Associated Newspapers . He then became a journalist for '' The Rand Daily Mail '' where he covered the Soweto uprising in 1976 and remained there until 1978 . He was news editor of the '' Sunday Post '' ( South Africa ) until his ban in 1980 . While at the '' Sunday Post '' , he was sentenced to prison for his refusal to reveal information about sources of one of his reporters and he led a 1980 strike which resulted in his ban from journalism for several years . After his house arrest , he was a Nieman Fellow . After his fellowship was complete in 1985 , he worked for '' Sowetan '' . In 1986 , he founded the '' New Nation '' ( defunct since 30 May 1997 ) , before he was arrested by police and held without a trial as part of the emergency and mass arrests in South Africa at the time . The newspaper was editorially aligned with the African National Congress , which stated on its masthead : " The media of the powerless . " At the time it was South Africa 's largest black newspaper . After his release from a 2-year detention and after the ban was lifted on the ANC , Sisulu served as Nelson Mandela 's press secretary and also the director of information of the African National Congress
Soweto uprising
Soweto uprising
Zwelakhe Sisulu