Activist Ronald Bernickow dies
LONG-TIME unionist, activist and “true servant of the people,” Ronald “Bernie” Bernickow died on Monday.
Bernickow, who was a Media Workers’ Association of South Africa (Mwasa) organiser and an activist during apartheid when the press was severely crippled, was recently appointed as the public representative on the Western Cape Chapter of Independent Media’s Ombud Appeals Panel.
Yesterday, Independent Media executive chairman Dr Iqbal Survé said he was “deeply saddened by Bernickow’s passing and that, “Many Struggle journalists will remember him as a tough trade unionist, who stood by what he believed in”.
“Ronald represented a rare breed of activist, who came through the Struggle of the eighties and who continued to serve our people with pride and dignity. There was not much Ronald would not, or could not do. He will be remembered for his sense of fairness and for his humility.” Independent Media Ombudsman Jovial Rantao said the office of the ombudsman was deeply saddened by the loss of Bernickow, who was “an astute man, a consummate professional, a loving father and a lifelong activist for truth and fairness”.
Fellow panellist Rich Mkhondo described Bernickow as a “gentle giant, who has left so many memories”. Bernickow had also served as the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration national senior commissioner for operations.
Cape Argus editor Aziz Hartley, who got to know Bernickow in the early 1980s, during his (Hartley’s) days as a member of Mwasa and later its deputy president, said his own commitment to the cause of media workers was “thanks to people like Bernie,” who was “a very determined and tenacious union organiser”.
“I remember a time when we met the newspaper management in the Cape Times boardroom and where he took charge of the meeting and told the general manager that we, Mwasa, would be now be chairing the meeting.”