Jeremy Gordin (Foto: PoliticsWeb/Twitter)
The veteran writer and journalist Jeremy Gordin (70) was murdered early on Saturday morning during a robbery at his home in Parkview, Johannesburg.
The house was ransacked and Gordin’s car and other items looted. He was home alone at the time of the incident and no arrests have been made so far, says Capt. Mavela Masondo, police spokesperson.
Gordin was a former associate editor at The Sunday Independent and the author of ex-pres. Jacob Zuma’s book, Zuma: A Biography. In recent years he has been a regular columnist for Politicsweb. He started writing for this publication in 2009.
Gordin was also in charge of affairs at the Justice Project of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) journalism department. He fought with this project for the release of Fusi Mofokeng and Tshokolo Mokoena, who were wrongly convicted of crimes.
According to James Myburgh of Politicsweb Gordin’s house was broken into twice in November last year. The first time the outbuildings were targeted and the second time Gordin’s house.
Gordin is survived by his wife, Deborah, and their two children, Jake and Nina.
His colleagues describe him as a kind-hearted person with a lot of enthusiasm. Myburgh says Gordin was also a “rock of moral support”.
“He was a great intellectual companion when it came to researching some of the great unsolved mysteries of our history,” writes Myburgh.
Roy Isacowitz, Gordin’s friend of the past 60 years, write that in recent years Gordin has emphasized the disintegration of South African society in his writing. He even published an open letter in which he tells his children they must leave South Africa.
“Jeremy, a diabetic, was 70 when he died. He didn’t think he had the strength (or the finances) to start over elsewhere. It is a pity. He was not a stranger in his own country, but because of the circumstances it became very strange for him here,” says Isacowitz.
Reggy Moalusi, executive director of the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef), told Rhewal that Gordin loved writing and was a born journalist.
“He was a dedicated journalist who was never afraid to question the status quo, however uncomfortable it might be,” says Moalusi.
