The longer version.

The background

I've spent my career in journalism, moving across politics, tech and science beats. I've been a reporter, a deputy news editor, an editor. I know how newsrooms work from the inside, which is exactly why I decided to build a different kind.

The founding story

I've worked in toxic newsrooms. More recently, I was retrenched. I lost a job to AI, so I decided to build better AI. That decision became TechNation News, South Africa's first AI-native tech newsroom.

People ask what keeps me going. The honest answer is pettiness, spite, and stubbornness. It turns out those are renewable resources.

The name

Kahla is a deliberate invocation of Frida Kahlo. Specifically the uncompromising Kahlo who presented herself entirely on her own terms, long before the world flattened her into a tote bag. That version. The one who refused to be softened.

It's also a quiet tribute to Kahla Kagiso from the South African novel 'Daar's Vis in die Punch', a character that's stayed with me for years.

Now

Today I run TechNation News and Mora Media, a brand writing and content strategy agency. I build editorial AI systems, write for major tech brands, and document the whole thing in public. My worldview is simple: African media deserves better infrastructure, and someone has to build it.

I write about technology with deep interest and real scepticism. Hype gets no oxygen here.

The person

I'm based in Johannesburg with my partner and our three cats: Gotham, Bluesy, and Eko. I was raised in Limpopo.

Off the clock you'll find me gaming or in a boxing gym. I care far too much about pop culture and film. Philosophy and languages fill in the rest.

The language quest

The goal is fluency in seven languages before 50. Progress so far: