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Gruff, pugnacious, broad-chested and bearded, with a barrelling gait, he could be mistaken on the newsroom floor for an old merchant mariner, but his bark was far worse than his bite, and concealed a depth of compassion and a keen affinity with the underdog and a passion to right injustice.
Image: SABC NewsJon Qwelane will be laid to rest in Mafikeng this week. If it were not self-restrictive, I would describe the late Jon Qwelane as a “doyen of black journalism”. But to do so would undermine his immense contribution to the advancement, protection and promotion of the craft. Qwelane burst into journalism via back-door. A wordsmith of note, he was lurking in his hometown of Mafikeng in the North West, working as a clerk in the post office. Initially contributing as a freelancer to the legendary Mafikeng Mail, he never stopped telling the story of how Oom Leslie Sehume played...