Strachan: the final word

Harold Strachan, Noseweek’s much-loved columnist of 20 years, died in Durban on 7 February 2020, aged 94

NOSEWEEK WAS SURPRISED AND delighted to discover that the life of Robert Harold Lundie “Jock” Strachan, our veteran “Last Word” columnist of 20 years, was celebrated with a marathon 2,500-word obituary in The Times (London), in which he is referred to as “one of the most remarkable figures in recent South African history.” We could think of no better way to honour his memory than to republish it here – with The Times editor’s kind permission – and slightly shortened.

JOCK STRACHAN WAS ONE OF THE most remarkable figures in re-cent South African history: a bomber and fighter pilot, art teacher, painter, explosives expert and guerrilla, fisherman, picture restorer, cartoonist, novelist, humourist and ultra-marathon runner. He is perhaps best remembered, however, for his dramatic exposé of the appalling jail conditions in which political prisoners were held under apartheid, which caused a storm, including a debate at the UN, and led to improvements for Nelson Mandela and others.

In 1960, when the South African government declared a state of emergency, Strachan and his second wife, Maggie, followed the tide of Africans who streamed out of the Cato Manor area of Durban to demand the release of their political leaders. The security forces used Saracen armoured vehicles to try to block their advance. When this did not work, the shooting began.

In Syringa Avenue, Strachan saw a young African, hurrying home from market with a packet of apples, shot dead; today Strachan’s painting of the scene holds pride of place in the Durban Art Gallery. When the police warned that they would shoot the crowd if it did not disperse, the Strachans, gambling that they would not shoot white people, stood in front of the guns to the fury of the police, who judged the situation too explosive to manhandle them away.