Johannes Martin "Hannes" Smith (17 March 1933 – 5 August 2008), affectionately known as Smithie, was a Namibian journalist, editor and publisher.
[2] According to Andreas Rothe, Smith was honoured by his competitors as a "legendary muckraker" who "did not bow to the South African nor the SWAPO government.
"[4] After Lister left the newspaper in 1984,[5] Smith ran it as a one-man operation, calling himself "reporter-in-chief".
[2] In August 2003, President Sam Nujoma and Smith became involved in a conflict regarding the 1959 Old Location Massacre, which saw a number of black protestors shot by the South African Police.
Smith, a young reporter in Windhoek at the time of massacre, challenged that claim, stating that he had personally witnessed injured blacks receiving treatment.