Stanley Huette "Stan" Uys (27 April 1922 – 11 January 2014) was a

South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...

journalist.

Biography

Uys was one of four siblings born to Afrikaner parents, Dirk and Francina Le Rey Uys, staunch Calvinists members of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

. He attended Athlone High School,

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

becoming interested in journalism as a teenager. He worked in that field from 1941 until shortly before his own death in 2014.

Career

He was a stringer for the'' News Chronicle'' in the 1950s and wrote extensively for newspapers in India, New Zealand and Ireland. Later he was political editor of the''

Johannesburg Sunday Times Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

'' and a regular contributor to publications in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.Evans, Sarah: Mail and Guardian 12 January 2014 James Sanders in his book ''South Africa and the International Media 1972-1979'' described Uys as "somewhat of a legend among journalists in South Africa." Uys interviewed ANC president Oliver Tambo in exile in 1983. He interviewed Nelson Mandela several times, once interviewing Mandela in a secret flat in Johannesburg while Mandela was in hiding from the government. He upset fellow Afrikaners by signing a Ghanaian anti-apartheid declaration. Uys moved to London in the 1990s to run the office of South Africa's Morning Group chain, while continuing to write for the '' Rand Daily Mail'' and other media. Living in London he became a regular pundit on BBC radio, assessing the 1980s political unrest that heralded the release of Mandela. Following the abolition of apartheid, his criticisms of ANC one party rule annoyed the new rulers, but underlined his journalistic rectitude. In 2010 from his home in London he wrote that the ANCs plans to rein in the press were "mind blowing," and compared them to the censorship under the white government.

Death

He died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on 11 January 2014, aged 91, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he had lived since the 1980s. He was survived by his second wife, Sarchen Burrell, and his two children from a previous marriage.

References

1922 births 2014 deaths People from Metsimaholo Local Municipality Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent South African journalists South African expatriates in the United Kingdom {{SouthAfrica-journalist-stub