By Alec Hogg*
The name Dudley Saunders won’t resonate with many. Inside South Africa’s media business, though, he was well known and deeply respected. A world class television news cameraman, he died yesterday after being hit by a train while filming for the BBC in Soweto. Dudley was 45.
What few realise, even those within the media family, is that Dudley would probably have regarded his last two decades as a time-added bonus. He should have left us 20 years ago. Only youth, courage and determination pulled him through an episode that would have sent lesser men to their graves – or at the very least scurrying for an easier career.
In 1993, I was the head of News Input at SABC Television. Dudley was an eager young cameraman, unafraid to accept even the most daunting assignment. This might have been because of a determination to prove himself, to overcome his pedigree.
His father, Cliff Saunders, used to be the SABC’s political correspondent. As the guard changed, Cliff’s close association with the National Party Government counted against him. During Apartheid’s closing chapter, those like Cliff linked to the old regime became distinctly persona non grata. So it was to Dudley’s credit that despite this handicap he succeeded anyway. No doubt to the delight of his now ostracised father.
One fateful day in April 1993, our news desk received a call from a Sharpeville resident telling us graves in the township’s cemetery had been desecrated. Apparently the vandals were members of the far-right Afrikaner Weerstand Beweging, then at the height of its powers.
Cameraman Dudley and reporter Calvin Thusago volunteered to go across to the East Rand to cover the story. At face value it was no more dangerous than dozens of other assignments those magnificent SABC cameramen and reporters covered in that turbulent period in the run-up to South Africa’s 1994 Election. But it was to prove fatal.
The way Dudley later told it to me, shortly after arriving at the graveyard a panga-wielding mob started chasing them. These long blades traditionally used for cutting sugar cane inflicted deep wounds on both Dudley and Calvin. Somehow the duo managed to get to the car and drive away, bleeding profusely. Both lost a lot of blood. Although he took a long time to recover from his wounds, Dudley survived. Calvin did not.
@alechogg Twitter vigil 4 Dudz who gave it all 24/7. 2nite from 7pm 4 24hrs tweet one word about him followed by #DudleySaunders #24/7
— Odette Schwegler (@OdieBlinkPics) December 31, 2013
It long saddened me that beyond a short staff memorial service, the SABC did little to honour Calvin’s memory. There is no scholarship in his name. No plaque to remind the organisation of the jovial, chubby man with a ready smile and a kind word for all. Ask after him around the SABC nowadays, as I did recently, and nine out of ten responses is Calvin Who?
But the early 1990s were not normal times. For a brief period the National Broadcaster operated completely free of political influence. It was a privilege to be involved with news professionals like Calvin and Dudley. Newsmen who fearlessly covered Boipatong, Bophuthatswana, Strydom Square, the Hani murder, the war between Inkatha and the ANC and a host of other dangerous events. All as part of their normal day’s work. Never shirking nor asking for any special acknowledgement.
Just as well, because none came. New management was installed shortly after the 1994 Election. More politically correct. Inclined, as new brooms are, to discard everything from the past. Even the ultimate sacrifice of Calvin Thosago and the scars borne by the now late Dudley Saunders.
Neither rates even a footnote in the Corporation’s history. So sad, isn’t it?
* Alec Hogg is the editor and publisher of Biznews.com. In the early 1990s he was Economics Editor and Head of News Input at SABC television news.
