South Africa, Daily Maverick, Sept. 20, 2026
South African investigative journalist Micah Reddy has not been heard from since midday on Saturday, but there is information that he may have been arrested.
Latest update from the ICIJ:
Update, 4.30pm ET / 11.30pm Djibouti: ICIJ has been informed that Reddy is believed to be in custody for failing to obtain media accreditation. It is understood Ismael is also being held in custody by Djiboutian authorities.
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South African investigative journalist Micah Reddy and his local “fixer” Kooki Mahmoud have gone missing while on assignment in the tiny African state of Djibouti on the Red Sea, causing alarm to their colleagues and families.
Both the South African and British governments have tried to contact the Djiboutian government to find out if the two men have been arrested or if something else has befallen them. US authorities and the Djibouti government have also been contacted for information about the two men who have not been heard from since midday on Saturday. Daily Maverick understands they may have been arrested.
Johannesburg-based Reddy is Africa coordinator at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a collective of international media houses which has conducted several global exposés of corruption.
His Washington-based ICIJ editor, Fergus Shiel, told Daily Maverick that Reddy was not in Djibouti to report about the country. He had arrived in Djibouti on a flight from Johannesburg on Thursday at about 6.30pm after a stopover in Addis Ababa.
