He joined The Guardian in 1992 and remained based in Johannesburg to report on the transition from apartheid as well travelling widely in Africa to cover the Angolan Civil War, the Rwandan genocide, the invasion of Zaire and fall of Mobutu Sese Seko, and military rule in Nigeria.
He was awarded the 2002 James Cameron Prize for his coverage of Africa and "work as a journalist that has combined moral vision and professional integrity".
The judges praised his "even-handed reporting and analysis of sub-Saharan Africa - without allowing his judgment to be affected by sentimentality or historical guilt".
In 2004 he won the Martha Gellhorn Award (London), for reporting of Israel & Palestinian territories that "penetrated the established version of events and told an unpalatable truth".
He was runner up in the Foreign Press Association award for Print/Web Feature Story of the Year for a series retracing route of The Grapes of Wrath to report on economic depression in modern America.