His articles on non-racial sport and apartheid politics attracted the attention of the security police and he was subjected to ongoing harassment and intimidation. In December 1980 he was banned and placed under house arrest for three years, during which time he established the independent news agency, the Press Trust of South Africa. When the banning order was lifted he returned to working as a foreign correspondent for international radio stations and was the BBC's official correspondent in South Africa from 1983 to 1994. From 1994 until his retirement in 2010 he served as senior political correspondent for the SABC. He continued working as foreign correspondent for international media outlets until 2023.