Tributes for Aggrey Klaaste
21 June 2004
Tributes are pouring in for veteran journalist and former Sowetan editor Aggrey Klaaste, who died in a Johannesburg clinic on Saturday after being on a life support system for 10 days.
Klaaste, aged 63, was editor of the Sowetan in the stable of New Africa Publications between 1988 and 2002. After assuming leadership of the Sowetan, he introduced the concept of "nation building" and invested much of his time and energy into promoting the idea.
President Thabo Mbeki said Klaaste would always be remembered for his contributions to spirited journalism and nation building.
"His brave stand against the tyranny of apartheid in the days of repression inspired particularly the youth of South Africa", Mbeki said. "He represented the established reality of black intellectual achievement many years before the arrival of the democracy for which he struggled.
"A leading architect and artisan of the African Renaissance has fallen, but he has left
behind the solid building blocks to which we may continue to add."
North West Premier Edna Molewa said Klaaste was "a jewel of South African journalism, who used his writings to paint a picture of hope and nation-building in the midst of hopelessness and racial divisions.
"Working towards a united and prosperous nation is, therefore, the best tribute we can pay to the memory of Klaaste."
Eastern Cape Premier Nosimo Balindlela said Klaaste "knew very clearly that before being a journalist, one is member of the community".
South African National Editors Forum chairman Henry Jeffreys said Klaaste's death was a loss not only to his family "but also to the journalism fraternity, the community he lived in and served, and the country as a whole".
Klaaste, who was appointed chairman of the Johannesburg Tourism Company in 2003, was a recipient of a string of honours for his journalistic and nation-building endeavours.
Rhodes University, one of South
Africa's finest schools of journalism, awarded Klaaste an Honorary Doctorate in Literature in 1999 in recognition of his role in the development of journalism in the country.
Former President Nelson Mandela also awarded Klaaste with the Order of Meritorious Service for his meticulous job in the media industry, and the Black Management Forum on Friday bestowed a Presidential Award on Klaaste for his work as Community Builder.
Klaaste was among the last group of black students who completed their BA degrees at the Witwatersrand University in 1960 before its doors were closed to blacks by apartheid statute.
His first job was with Drum magazine, and from there he moved to The World (which was banned in 1977) and later The Post, which became the Sowetan in 1981. In 1977 he was arrested along with The World's editor at the time, Percy Qoboza. Klaaste spent nine months in jail.
Klaaste, one of eight children, was born in Kimberley, but spent most of his life in
Johannesburg, a city he described as "the passion of my life".
His parents moved the family to Johannesburg when he was three, and his father became a clerk on the mines. They lived in Sophiatown.
In 1955, when Sophiatown was dismantled by the apartheid government, he moved with his family to Meadowlands, Soweto.
Klaaste counted as the highlight of his life the time when Nelson Mandela visited him at his house in Diepkloof, shortly after Mandela was released from jail in 1990.
"It was an unbelievable thing, everybody came to my house. It was just tremendous", Klaaste recalled.
Klaaste is survived by his wife Caroline, three children and two sisters.
Source: BuaNews
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