Erin Bates is a South African broadcast journalist with skill in print, radio, TV and online news. In May 2023, she joined Carte Blanche as a presenter. Bates continues to freelance as a daily news reporter, including for Newzroom Afrika on DStv channel 405. Bates was previously a legal writer for Business Day newspaper, and files occasional features for the weekly magazine Financial Mail.
She has also worked as an anchor and reporter at eNCA. From 2018 to 2020 she was a leading broadcast correspondent on the state capture inquiry. She further covered the process, which ended in 2022, in print for Business Day, Daily Maverick, and Vrye Weekblad.
Internationally she has written for Al Jazeera and featured as a guest on BBC Africa, India Today and LBC London. Locally she has appeared on numerous TV and radio stations. Bates has led talks at the Franschhoek Literary Festival, Open Book Festival and various conferences.