Described by
Daily Maverick’s Marianne Thamm in a webinar this week as “one of the most intriguing figures” in the history of South African politics, Slabbert is perhaps best known today for his meeting the ANC in exile in 1987. But, as Grundlingh author of
Slabbert: Man on a Mission made clear, this was just one event in a life filled with significance.
Grundlingh told the webinar that Slabbert occupied an “insider/outsider” space from a young age. A religious Afrikaans boy who was a very good rugby player, Slabbert was gripped from an early age by a sense of not quite belonging.
02 January 2021 - 12:27 Former DA Eastern Cape leader Eddie Trent died at the age of 80 from natural causes on Thursday Image: Central RSA
Former DA Eastern Cape provincial leader Eddie Trent, 80, died from natural causes on Thursday.
In a statement on Saturday, the DA in the Eastern Cape said Trent fought for justice for all and nonracialism, and was both a bridge builder and a nation builder.
A former member of the provincial legislature (MPL) and MP, Trent was described by the party s current Eastern Cape leader, Bobby Stevenson, as a political giant in the history of the province.
“I worked with Eddie since 1983 and he always had the time of day for everyone, assisting thousands of constituents. He was a humble person who could relate to everyone. He displayed true grit and tenacity, not only in the fight against apartheid but also for the liberal values he believed in.”
Belinda Bozzoli joined Parliament as a DA MP in May 2014. I was greatly looking forward to welcoming her. She was – to compress her more complex politics – a social liberal. We had just lost ours in Lindiwe Mazibuko, a personal tragedy for her and a great loss to the party. Lindiwe was leading a critical mass of very talented, aspirational young liberals in the party and now there was a void.
I had known Belinda since the 1980s. We were fellow sociologists, she at Wits and I at the University of Cape Town. We both worked with Blade Nzimande then to establish the first nonracial South African Sociology Association. In Parliament, she now had to square off with Nzimande, who led the ministry responsible for higher education. A former deputy vice-chancellor at one of South Africa’s most prestigious universities, Belinda was masterful at it.