True son of the soil
Saths Cooper (anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned on Robben Island):
Ronnie has been a significant cultural and creative figure from the 1960s. His patois of local Indianism gained popularity beyond Durban, where he enjoyed a cult following, to the rest of KZN, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Together with others passionate about the performing arts – such as Guru Pillay, Kessie Govender, Maynard Peters, Babs Pillay, Ismail Patel, Geevie Nadasen, Eileen Isaacs, Jayson Cornelius, Lorna Mathee, Veena Bugwandeen, Ali Mohamed, Stanley Mnyandu and Benjy Francis – Ronnie led Shah Theatre Academy when l joined it in 1966 as a 15-year-old.
Ronnie and his dear wife Kamala were both schoolteachers. It was the period when Verwoerd was entrenching the separation of people according to so-called separate development, which created the devastation we see the consequences of 27 years after democracy. Everyone was scared of being heard to oppose that system, being banned or jailed if they were suspected of it.
In his inimitable way, Ronnie enthused us, after rehearsals at the Beatrice Street YMCA, with opposition through words, poetry and drama. On the evening of Verwoerd’s killing in Parliament by Dimitri Tsafendas, l recall joining Ronnie and his cousin Kessie at the Paradise restaurant’s bar at Durban’s Ocean Terminal, where l was allowed to have a beer shandy, to mark the event!
My involvement in the arts grew from association with Ronnie and Benjy, both of whom continued when l became involved with Steve Biko in the SA Students Organisation and the Black People’s Convention (BPC). Ronnie affected many people in different ways. My relationship with him was often testy, but we reconnected after my release from Robben Island and remained warm until his illness last year.
He leaves a rich legacy.
Vanashree (businesswoman) and Anant Singh (film producer):
We are deeply saddened by the passing of renowned author and playwright, Ronnie Govender. Ronnie was a man for all seasons – a journalist, political activist, playwright and author. He took his inspiration from the Indian experience of apartheid South Africa and immortalised this rich cultural and social tapestry in his many works.
We remember his seminal stage play, The Lahnee's Pleasure, based on characters in a hotel in apartheid South Africa. It became one of South Africa’s longest running plays, and played to capacity audiences around the country.
In a bold political statement, he wrote Off Side as a parody which took aim at those who participated in the House of Delegates in the Tricameral Parliament of the 1980s, and followed it with the sequel Inside.
At the Edge and Other Cato Manor Stories was a brilliant account of life in the cultural melting pot that was Cato Manor.
This play travelled to the prestigious Edinburgh Festival and won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.
Having known him since the 1970s, we spent memorable evenings in his company when he ran the Aquarius Restaurant in Reservoir Hills. Due to limited theatre venues for Indians in those days, he opened the Aquarius as a theatre venue to stage his plays and those of fellow playwrights, making it one of the most popular entertainment venues of the time. We have lost a prolific writer and a true son of the soil.
We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.
Jayshree Parasuramen (playwright and theatre personality):
Where do I even begin? We mourn the passing of an amazing artist. He was my mentor, my director and one of my closest friends. While many respectfully called him Sir, Uncle, Dr Ronnie Govender, a legend, I simply called him Ron. We shared a friendship that words cannot describe. He believed in me and took me under his wing.
He guided me the way a father would guide his daughter. Together, we created theatre, travelled, celebrated incredible moments and visited many people. I was also his chauffeur, his production manager, an actress and ran around to find his toothbrush when he forgot to bring it. We rocked to Eddie Grant blasting in my car or classical Indian music then suddenly changing to opera because those were the moments we lived most in the moment.
He stood up for what he believed in and he for those he believed in. He wasn't afraid to tell anyone off. He was a pillar of strength, not just to the Indian community during our greatest historical struggles, paving the way for so many more dreamers to come, in an unforgiving industry, but a leader in our country, for an industry where many voices were often silenced.
His work will be immortalised in the plays he contributed to our arts and culture history and will forever be marked by his many other contributions.
I love you with all my heart Ron and thank you for everything you have done for me to make me who I am today.
Koobeshen Naidoo (stage, television and film actor)
RIP Ronnie Govender. You have been a huge influence on my life, on and off stage. Your early plays instilled in me a love for theatre and performance. We studied you and your works in university. Then you gave me my first professional debut 21 years ago in Beyond Calvary.
It has been amazing knowing you and working with you all these years. So many of South Africa's top actors cut their teeth performing one of your plays.
You have influenced and encouraged hundreds of performers.
My favourite memory was playing The Stranger in Lahnees Pleasure with my son as the young boy, Bassy Bhola, Vivian Moodley and Dhaveshan Govender.
We played to sold-out audiences at Suncoast for a month.
I'll have a double in your memory Ronnie. Cheers. You are a legend. Hamba Kahle Ronnie.
Gita Pather (former director of Wits Theatre, Wits University):
My dearest Ronnie ... almost impossible to think of you not inhabiting this earthly plain that you took such delight in. Your incisive wit, unerring eye, and deep empathy for the human condition allowed you to share your view of the world with us; in so doing, enriching our understanding and our humanity.
I will remember you as a wonderful, warm friend, a colleague and a creative artist whose depiction of the Indian experience in South Africa is unrivalled.
We shared a similar appetite for the good times lubricated by good whiskey, the company of fine friends and an appreciation for great chow.
Even after years of not breaking bread or a toast, we could pick up without a beat missed. I loved your company, your joy in the simple things, an exemplary ability to live in the moment and to bring out the best in those around you.
We made history together by selling out your show At the Edge with Pat Pillai before it had even opened at The Playhouse.
Your plays are an invocation of a too scantily documented experience of being Indian in South Africa and we owe you a debt of gratitude for creating wonderful theatrical experiences that will live on in our memory. Rest well and try to entertain the celestial bodies that you will surely be partying with. My deepest condolences to all who have shared your life, been touched by your spirit and who mourn your passing. God bless, God speed.