So many years building trust
“In the 40 years that I have known Pippa, she has had a consistent presence as a consummate communicator. Her communication skills have always had at least two dimensions. She worked in and at the art of being understood, and she made a commitment to ploughing back. Her ‘ploughing back’ activities entailed working on community newspapers and distilling complex ideas for wider consumption. The other side of her ‘ploughing back’ has always been investing in people. I cannot count the number of journalists who have intimated that Pippa gave them their first break, or that she’d stepped up to assist in honing their craft. I am aware of her role in training at Grassroots, SAAN [South African Associated Newspapers], the SABC, the universities of Pretoria and Princeton, and News24.
“There is something special about the journalism of the 1980s. It was a craft of building trust with people in communities and organisations. It was also about being seen to take a stand against the oppressive jackboot. Those who were better equipped, as Pippa was, were distinguished in the journalism of what seemed like a war. The trust remained, and the contacts have been durable. As an endearing aside, just last year, Pippa raised with me a challenge confronting a family who had lost a son in the Trojan horse attack of 1985. To Pippa, the affected family was not just the subject line in a story 34 years ago; the pain and trauma lived on in Pippa because of the depth of the injustice suffered by that family.
“At one stage during my tenure as finance minister there was an opportunity to assuage Pippa’s curiosity about the working of government. She was seconded to work with the National Treasury and in the ministry to deepen her understanding. She left an indelible store of lessons about how and what to communicate. This temporary role so neatly fits in with her role and style. “One of the other huge parts of her life has been to work in special projects. She was able to close the loop on her work at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with a timeous 20-year review with detailed radio interviews of the main protagonists, many in the twilight of their lives, thus capturing their observations on an important chapter in our history. Similarly, her recent work at editing REDI3x3, as a commitment to translating sometimes turgid economics outputs into a more understandable language, is similarly hugely commendable.
“I cannot think of many others as committed to communication and media as Pippa. I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to her than her appointment as the press ombud.”