eNCA journalist Nabeelah Shaikh dies with unborn baby
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on TimesLIVE and IOL
South African investigative journalist Nabeelah Shaikh, 34, has died while expecting her second child, who did not survive. Her death was announced on Saturday 14 November by the Central Islamic Trust, according to TimesLIVE. Media figures and former colleagues praised her professional commitment and humanity.
Shaikh won the Editors’ Choice award in the 2016 Vodacom Journalist of the Year competition for several investigations carried out at the Sunday Tribune. Akash Bramdeo, the newspaper’s former editor, recalled working with her on those investigations before meeting the journalist again at eNCA, where she once again distinguished herself.
Viasen Soobramoney, IOL’s chief executive, described a determined professional and a person attentive to others, with whom he had shared a newsroom in KwaZulu-Natal. Jolene Marriah-Maharaj, IOL’s head of content and a long-time friend of the journalist, also paid tribute to her kindness and dedication to her family.
South African anti-crime expert Yusuf Abramjee expressed his sadness at Shaikh’s death and offered his condolences to her loved ones. The journalist leaves behind her husband, Waseem Ally, her daughter Maahira, her parents Zafarullah and Rashida Bibi Shaikh, as well as her brothers.
