Ackel Zwane, The Swaziland Observer
Former University of
Swaziland political science lecturer Dr. John Daniel is dead. He died on July
25 of an undisclosed cause.
He was very popular among
students, especially South Africans for his role in providing scholarships to
those exiled by apartheid during his tenure in Swaziland in the eighties. He
was, however, very unpopular with the establishment headed by then Liqoqo
following the passing on of King Sobhuza II in the early eighties. Dr. Daniel
was thought to be instrumental in giving advice to the student representative
council which ran endless battles with Liqoqo that wanted a firm control of the
university. He assisted many South Africans who wanted to join the liberation
movements especially the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress
with passage to then frontline states where these organisations were based. He
was more inclined to assist the ANC.
To the Swazi authorities
of the day Dr. Daniel was a sort of a nuisance that ‘polluted’ the innocent
young minds of Swazis who were regarded as apolitical and unsophisticated. At
the time there was simmering resistance against the Liqoqo by university
students who felt they were misleading the country in the absence of a King.
The Liqoqo called itself the Supreme Council of State.
The Mail & Guardian
reported that while chairing the Swaziland scholarship committee for South
African refugees and working with the Geneva-based World University Service,
Dr. Daniel continued his activist work in support of the banned ANC.
The newspaper said he did
so “without fanfare or submitting to intrigue”, quoting Horst Kleinschmidt, a
fellow National Union of South African Students, (NUSAS) activist. It said Dr.
Daniel was deported from Swaziland when the Swazi government banned the ANC in
1985, then spent a year as a research fellow at the University of Amsterdam,
and five years as Africa editor at Zed Books in London.
He returned to South
Africa in 1991 as a senior lecturer in international relations at Rhodes
University, and in 1993 was appointed chair of political science at the
University of Durban-Westville (UDW). From 1997 to 2000 he was a senior
researcher for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, with a focus on
documenting human rights violations committed by the apartheid state.
In 2001 Daniel moved to
the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). He worked both as research director
on governance and democracy and established HSRC Press, co-founding and
co-editing the first four volumes of the bestselling State of the Nation series
with Professor Roger Southall, reported thee newspaper.
Scholar for International
Training (SIT), mourning Dr. Daniel’s passing
said he was known by many as the Academic Director and for his legendary
role in South Africa’s anti apartheid struggle. He is a former Academic
Director (AD) in Durban, South Africa, academic coordinator of the South
Africa: Social and Political Transformation programme, and lecturer and advisor
for both Durban programmers.
They said John’s life’s
work on behalf of a free South Africa and his activist research bringing to
harsh light the atrocities committed by the state were—and would continue to
be—his profound and much lauded legacy.
He was regarded as a
consummate example of what all strive for, but few ever attain—an embodied and
unwavering commitment to counter injustice, to render powerless the
inequalities that starkly divide, and
ensure that all people question alleged authority, read widely, feel
deeply and demand a better world. “As a friend, mentor, colleague, advocate,
instigator, joyful presence, provocateur, whirlwind, intellectual heavyweight
and devoted educator, John was an unforgettable presence in our lives. Our
students on his programmes—having learned first-hand through his scholarly
guidance, activist imperatives, and mischievous, defiant example—are among the
most fortunate at SIT. “To imagine the world without John is truly painful—even
unbearable—but we take solace in the extent and power of his influence and his
living legacy, imbued in hundreds—thousands—of us around the world,” said Tina
Mangieri, PhD, dean for Africa, South of the Sahara.” Alumnus Daniel Forti
remembers John as truly embodying “the meaning of public service.” “Throughout
his entire life, John wholly dedicated himself to the people of South Africa,
whether as a student leader and anti-apartheid activist, an exiled militant, a
professor, a human rights researcher, an academic director, and most
importantly, as a father and a friend,” Forti said. “He exemplified dedication,
justice and love; his life will be celebrated by all who knew him for many
years to come.”
