Allister Sparks: A fighter for justice in South Africa

WITH the death of Allister Sparks on September 19th in Johannesburg at the age of 83, South Africa mourns the passing of one of its most fearless, dogged and influential liberal journalists. A relentless critic of apartheid from the moment it was formally enacted in 1948, when he was but a boy, Mr Sparks never stopped telling truth to power, even after democracy was achieved in 1994. He remained a thorn in the flesh of governments until weeks before his death.

The high point of his combative career was his editorship of the Rand Daily Mail, torchbearer of liberal South Africa, from 1977-1981. During this time he famously exposed the truth behind the murder in custody of a charismatic black activist, Steve Biko. Mr Sparks also exposed the scandal known as “Muldergate” after an information minister, Connie Mulder, who had secretly overseen the transfer of state funds to finance a pro-government newspaper, the Citizen. This led to the resignation of the prime minister, John Vorster, and his replacement by P.W. Botha, who began cautiously to embark on reforms that led to the unravelling of apartheid a decade later. He incurred the authorities’ further wrath by quoting a “banned” black person, Winnie Mandela, when her husband Nelson was still in jail.