Raymond Louw turns 90 and his legacy of standing firm against bullies remains
Louw’s name rarely appeared in the Rand Daily Mail: he made others shine, and journalists rewarded him with fierce loyalty, writes John Matisonn
The media world unfolds in the public eye, but there is a private world as well, the backrooms where the journalists work and the sausages are made. And in that world, Raymond Louw, who turned 90 last week, is loved. In the media, there were many who courageously fought apartheid: Zwelakhe Sisulu, Laurence Gandar, Percy Qoboza, Max du Preez and others. None knew better how to fight for justice with skill, courage and an obsession with detail in a hostile time. Louw became editor of the Rand Daily Mail at the end of 1965, and his term in that job coincided almost exactly with John Vorster’s term as prime minister, 1966-1978. The mists of memory have frozen the Rand Daily Mail in time, as a great anti-apartheid fighting newspaper of high quality, and by some critics as continuing the discriminatory hiring practices of the time, at the expense of black reporters. The truth is more complex. Before it was turned around starting in 1957 by the courageous Laurence Gandar, it was a jingoist...
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