CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF A TRULY REMARKABLE MAN
MARINUS Wiechers was a most exceptional person in every respect. He was an academic, scholar, teacher and mentor for countless students for nearly 40 years. As a contemporary of mine and many others we can echo the words of John Donne: “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore send not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.” He was par excellence involved in the affairs of mankind.
Wiechers was a brilliant scholar and academic of international standing. He was also the vicechancellor of Unisa in the 1990s at a challenging time of transition and transformation.
He was a prolific writer and author in the fields of international, constitutional, and administrative law, as well as human rights. He was also a linguist, having a knowledge of French, German and Spanish.
As a young advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa he appeared before the World Court at The Hague in relation to the famous South-West Africa/Namibia cases concerning the mandate drafted by the League of Nations after World War I. He also served on innumerable commissions.
He did pioneering research and writing in the field of administrative law, and his book on it was an innovative contribution to this subject in South Africa. He was involved in the drafting of the Namibian and South African constitutions. As such he was a patriotic South African deeply committed to the new constitutional and political dispensation that this country embarked on with the political settlement of 1993 and the Interim Constitution of 1994.
He understood the immense problems the country faced as a fledgling democracy and tried to make a contribution to resolving these. He was committed to the realisation of social and economic justice for all South Africans.
He was also an artist of note and his paintings were greatly prized. He held a number of successful exhibitions and was vice-president of the Arts Association of Pretoria.
Indeed he was a man for all seasons, a renaissance prince of a man, greatly beloved by family, colleagues and friends. His passing has impoverished all who knew him. Despite his inordinate talents he remained a modest and humble person, always willing to assist friends and colleagues.
Though his passing will be deeply mourned, we celebrate the life and the achievements of an exemplary man who contributed immensely to South Africa and its people. He leaves behind a legacy of scholarship, collegiality and excellence that will continue to enrich us.
Shakespeare’s immortal words from Julius Caesar, said by Antony of Brutus, are apposite in relation to Wiechers: “His life was gentle, and the elements so mix’d in him that Nature might stand up and say to all the world ‘This was a man’.” George Devenish is emeritus professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is one of the scholars who drafted the Interim Constitution of South Africa.