Shaun Johnson: journalist with the write stuff
LATE veteran journalist and Mandela Rhodes Foundation founding chief executive Shaun Johnson has been described as a rare individual who combined managerial expertise with creative flair.
Johnson, aged 60, passed away on Monday.
Among his long list of achievements, Johnson was The Star deputy editor and political editor in Joburg, Cape Argus and Saturday Star editor and was launch editor of the Sunday Independent.
He was a deputy chief executive of Independent News and Media South Africa and a member of the board of governors of Rhodes University.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation said it was deeply saddened to hear of Johnson’s untimely death.
“For those of us in the organisation who have known him for many years, the news was shattering.
“Our thoughts are with Stefania, Luna, the rest of his family and the many people in South Africa and abroad who counted him as a friend.
“A South African who contributed to the attainment of democracy Nelson Mandela
“We were privileged to work with him as a colleague and to have him as a friend.
“In 2006 Shaun took on the role of acting chief executive at the Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) while continuing to be the chief executive at the Mandela Rhodes Foundation (MRF),” the foundation said.
For a year he carried this enormous load with apparent ease.
NMF chief executive Sello Hatang said: “He stepped in at a very challenging time for the Foundation, just as Madiba was providing the organisation with a new mandate while progressively stepping away from public life.
“Shaun steered the ship expertly. “He did it for Madiba.” When he was appointed as the founding chief executive of the MRF, Madiba spoke of Johnson as “a young South African who, as a journalist and public intellectual, contributed enormously to the attainment and consolidation of democracy in our country.”
Beyond his contributions to institution-building, Johnson’s book Strange Days Indeed represented a compelling account of South Africa’s transition from apartheid to democracy.
“And when later in life he turned to fiction, his award-winning debut novel The Native Commissioner explored some of the complex imaginaries of white South Africa during apartheid.