Alide Dasnois (born 1950) is aSouth African journalist and newspaper editor.

Dasnois matriculated fromHerschel Girls School and completed a bachelor's degree in economics at theUniversity of Cape Town. She obtained a master's degree at theSorbonne (Université Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne) in Development Economics.^{[citation needed]}

During the mid-1980s she worked as a translator inParis. In 1988, she moved toReunion Island to work forTémoignages. In 1992, she started working atThe Argus inCape Town where she edited the business section before becoming assistant editor forPersonal Finance (Cape Town).^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, she moved toJohannesburg and became the editor ofBusiness Report,^[1] before working as acting editor of thePretoria News for a year in 2006. She worked as deputy editor of theCape Times from December 2006 until April 2009, when she became first female editor of theCape Times.^[2][3]

Dasnois was removed from her post asCape Times editor on the weekend of 6 December 2013, shortly after the acquisition of theCape Times bySekunjalo Investments Limited.^[4] In response to allegations^[5][6][7][8] that her removal was in retaliation for an article in theCape Times^[9] reporting findings by thePublic Protector prejudicial to the Sekunjalo Group,^[10] the executive chairman Iqbal Surve released a press statement indicating her removal was for "under performance" and failure in her "fiduciary responsibilities".^[11]

The removal of Dasnois as editor and related threats of legal action from Sekunjalo have elicited statements of support for her and of concern over editorial independence at theCape Times fromIndex on Censorship, theInternational Federation of Journalists, the SA Centre forPEN International, theSA National Editors Forum, the Freedom of Expression Institute, and the Right2Know Campaign.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Dasnois won the 2014Nat Nakasa award for courage and integrity in journalism from the SA National Editors' Forum, the Nieman Foundation and Print and Digital Media SA. In their citation, the judges – Joe Thloloe, Peter Sullivan and Simphiwe Sesanti – said she had "demonstrated all the qualities required to win this award, such as bravery, integrity and courage". "This she displayed in her career as the editor of the Cape Times, a position from which she was relieved recently by the owners of the newspaper. The official reason for her removal was that she failed to give coverage to the passing away of former South African president Nelson Mandela. This reason was rejected by many, attributing her bosses' move to her publication of a report – on the same day she was removed – by the Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, which found the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Tina Joemat-Petterson, guilty of "improper conduct and maladministration" in an irregular awarding of an R800-million tender to the Sekunjalo Consortium. "Dasnois' supporters pointed out that under her editorship the Cape Times paid tribute to Madiba with a wrap-around edition. The coverage of Madiba's passing was among 15 Mandela covers worldwide especially commended by Time magazine."

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• 20th-century South African women journalists
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• 21st-century South African women journalists

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