What we do: Peer review by NiemanLab and the Global Investigative Journalism Network of Oxpeckers tools and investigations Investigations by Oxpeckers have led to the exposure of eco-offences in South Africa’s water-scarce environment. Photograph: Mark Olalde In some places, it was the grey dust visible in the water buckets that showed something was wrong, polluted by run-off water from the mines. In others, it was the toxic waste piles, left by mining companies to contaminate the groundwater. The investigation by Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism found that over 100 South African mines had been polluting local water systems as a result of water permit violations and inadequate environmental testing. Raking through data on permit violations, Oxpeckers reached out to the companies flouting regulations to hold them accountable for their lack of transparency and disregard for community health and environmental welfare. Digging deeper through parliamentary inquiries, they found that the government had allowed mining to continue even in areas where companies were failing to clean up their act. The result was polluted water discharged directly into the environment, unlined wastewater ponds, oil spills, and acid drainage run off, some of it in areas directly linked to the drinking water supply in nearby towns and villages. Connecting these dots meant that activist groups like the Federation for a Sustainable Environment could file litigation against those complicit in the pollution of already-scarce water resources. The mining investigation was an archetypal Oxpeckers story: as an outfit, the site focuses on a combination of data analysis and collaboration, using dynamic and interactive data visualisation tools such as animated maps and infographics to tell compelling stories about the land and those accused of damaging it. Building on a foundation of partnerships between donors, civil society, and advocacy groups, Oxpeckers has fostered long-term relationships that improve data collection and power investigations, leading to the exposure of eco-offences and helping to hold perpetrators accountable. Based in South Africa and founded in 2013 by veteran environmental journalist Fiona Macleod, who sits at the helm, Oxpeckers covers stories from across southern Africa and other regions, with high-profile stories on illegal wildlife trafficking and the effects of climate change. Mining, water, and pollution form other key subject areas. As a data-driven journalism organisation, accessibility of raw data is key to Oxpeckers’ work. It often makes the data tied to its reporting publicly available. It utilises the openAFRICA and sourceAFRICA repositories for organising and storing relevant data sources and documents for the public, and makes its own curated datasets from investigations associated with geo-journalism tools #MineAlert, which monitors the mining sector, and #WildEye, a wildlife trafficking website, available to readers. Meanwhile, its journalism, often republished by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and South Africa’s Mail & Guardian, has earned Oxpeckers several awards, and the 20-member team was a finalist for South Africa’s prestigious Taco Kuiper Award. Although the South African media is freer than that in other countries on continent, and stands at 31 of 180 of countries rated in the Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index, freedom of the press remains fragile; it is not unusual for journalists to be harassed over inquiries into government finances or corruption. Meanwhile, some of the country’s major media owners have ties to industry and big business, and mining has always been a particularly sensitive subject since it comprises a significant portion of the country’s extractive sector (and an estimated 18% of gross domestic product). Decades ago, this meant that the mining beat was often covered by financial journalists who worked closely with mining companies to report news on stock portfolios and investment. It was only when reports of water pollution, acid mine drainage, and toxic waste emerged that the subject began to be seen as ripe for investigative environmental journalism. In response, policy makers and reporters began to highlight issues such as the regulation of mining companies and license procurement processes. At Oxpeckers, #MineAlert, a geo-spatial data analytics tool, was created to track and share information on mining applications, licenses, and related issues with the aim of promoting both private and public sector accountability in mining. The tool has enabled Oxpeckers to post the latest investigative developments and mining updates for users, including environmental and wildlife activists, NGOs, legal advocacy organizations and parliamentarians.