Fearless and selfless journalist remembered
ONE of the few remaining giants of the golden era of resistance journalism, Rajendra Chetty, has passed on after bravely battling age-related illness. He was 89.
Chetty grew up in Kearsney on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast. He once recalled: “Elders played pivotal roles in disciplining and educating us. My parents, uncles and aunts played supporting roles in guiding us as children. The transition to adulthood was orderly and dignified.
“When it was time to leave my small village, they blessed us, offering us the freedom to explore our individuality. My siblings and I proceeded to the city of Durban to pursue careers.”
As a 14-year-old, Chetty had read sensational stories about “miracles” being performed by a farmer who claimed to possess divine healing powers. Thousands of people began flocking to his home. A week later, the farmer was discovered to be a fraud – he was using the money he collected from unsuspecting devotees to build his house.
Chetty said: “An aunt was one of the victims. The incident evoked strong feelings in me. I was enraged by the man’s deceit. I shot off a letter to the editor of Natal Mercury expressing my disdain.
“The editor extended an invitation to me to write regularly for the paper. That was the beginning of my association with journalism.”
Chetty’s first job as chief administrative officer with the Natal Indian Society for the Blind got him a job as a boxing columnist on The Graphic newspaper whose editor was chairperson of the society.
Chetty’s career in journalism spanned more than 60 years, and included the Golden City Post that altered the face of media in South Africa. He also worked for Drum, Leader, Natal Mercury, Sunday Times, Chatsworth Sun, Stanger Mail, Tugela Mail and The Asian.
He described his time at Golden City Post as his best years of journalism where he wrote scores of stories that grabbed the headlines.
“The beginning of the Golden City Post was an epoch-making event in the annals of journalism for style, presentation and depth. So efficient were its investigative journalists that the South African police, at all levels of officialdom, grudgingly acknowledged the tabloid’s exceptional ability to source its facts with its investigative team of black journalists always closer to the truth. We were streets ahead of the best there were in the (police) criminal investigation department, and our stories were graphic in detail, providing valuable links in resolving issues of crime.”
At Golden City Post and Drum, Chetty worked with reporters, columnists and photographers such as Cecil Eprile, Henry Nxumalo, Arthur Maimane, Can Themba, Casey Motsisi, Ezekiel Mphahlele, Blokes Modisane, Todd Matshikiza, Jurgen Schadeberg, Bob Gosani and Peter Magubane.
Chetty balanced work with fun. “When not on hot story leads, Peter Magubane and I were out socialising
with the stars of Alf Herbert’s African Jazz ensemble on their regular beat through the townships and suburbs of the old Rand Triangle with famous stars like Dotty Tiyo, Dorothy Masuka, Dolly Rathebe and Ben ‘Satchmo’ Masinga.”
Chetty often recalled that through the depth of his investigations, he bust gangs, saved lives and exposed criminal elements, corruption and health hazards.
When he was at the Sunday Times, he exposed the planned gift of a retirement home for the university’s long-serving rector, Professor Fanie Olivier.
Chetty’s revelation in the face of Broederbonder backlash for the attack on a key member of the much-feared Afrikaaner secret society, was a signal and historic achievement for the long and exhaustive investigation. He also exposed Olivier as a narrow-minded bigot engaged in an anti-women campaign that deliberately sought to suppress the advancement of married women in their professional academic careers.
The former editor of POST, Brijlall Ramguthee, said Chetty was his mentor when he joined The Leader in 1965.
“Besides an outstanding journalist, he was also a sports administrator of note.”
Pietermaritzburg photo-journalist Shan Pillay, who worked with Chetty at The Graphic, Golden City Post and Sunday Times, said: “He was my hero, my mentor. He was so caring and looked after me as one of his own.”
Former SABC journalist Subry Govender
met Chetty when he was a freelance journalist.
“Rajendra stood out as a journalist. He covered breaking news stories as well as soccer, cricket, road running, tennis and table tennis.”
Michael Govender, of the “Lions Boys” of Kharwastan, Durban, credited Chetty for organised road running in Natal.
“He single-handedly formed the Natal Road Runners Association in 1969 and encouraged affiliated clubs to be named after fast animals – thus the formation of clubs named Lions, Tigers, Panthers, Cheetahs and Gazelles,” he said.
Anti-apartheid activist Sam Ramsamy said in a tribute: “I have known Rammy (as I always called him) since his days as the principal reporter for The Leader. He went on to play leading roles in several other publications.
“We all knew him for his uncompromising stand against apartheid. He never flinched with his forthright comments on numerous issues.
“The Comrades Durban-Pietermaritzburg event was exclusively for whites. Rammy started the non-racial Gold Top Marathon between Stanger and Durban as the substitute for the racial Comrades.”
Ashwin Trikamjee, the former president of the South African Soccer Federation Professional League and president of the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, said Chetty was “the fearless and at times provocative journalist, the great athletics administrator, the outstanding football administrator as secretary of the South African Soccer League and later on in his life, an equally selfless servant of religion”.
“His contribution to the cause of non-racial athletics and soccer can never be forgotten. I had the privilege of being at the end of many ‘hot’ interviews in the FPL days – but we always enjoyed a mutually respectful relationship.”
Mahomed “Butch” Kajee, the former president of Sporting Club D’Alberton Callies, said Chetty was a founding member and the first president of D’Alberton Callies.
“In the early 1960s he, together with a band of young enthusiastic men from the central Durban area, started the club due to their love of football. In due course, other codes like cricket, road running, table tennis and ladies’ hockey added to the interests and participation by those involved with the club.
“In Rajendra, his colleagues quickly identified the values of leadership, integrity, selflessness and ethical values,” said Kajee.
Chetty worked on two print projects – The History of Indian Education in South Africa 1860-2000 and The History of Indian Sport in South Africa 1882-2000.
Together with Tholsiah “TP” Naidoo, in 1980, he produced The Settler, a glossy publication to mark the 120th anniversary of the arrival of the 1860 indentured workers.
His last major writing project was a book titled Darkness at Dawn, which delves into the life of Swami Nischalananda who founded the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa. There had been rumours that the swami had taken his life when his body was found floating in the Umgeni River. In his book, Chetty makes it clear that the holy man had been murdered by one of his closest disciples. He took several years to research the book thoroughly and drew liberally from his own association with the swami and the suspected murderer.
Chetty allowed life to guide him across brilliance as a journalist, photographer, researcher, sports administrator and author. We remember his incredible legacy as an opinion maker and thought leader, as he recorded history through the words he typed. Chetty was not afraid to ask the questions that others were too afraid to ask. He was not frightened to write the stories that other journalists shied away from. He was never scared to speak his mind.
Chetty wrote not so long ago: “Journalism and my parallel involvement in sports administration yielded similar results and gave me the singular advantage of networking with prominent people in various fields.
“As I matured, I became fearless and stopped at nothing, afraid of no one. Diving headlong into exposés was my forte and the word had got around. I once received a letter from abroad addressed simply to ‘Rajendra Chetty, South Africa’. In retrospect, my career in journalism felt like a lifetime of adventure.”
Chetty is survived by his wife, Romila, and son Sumesh.