Anti-apartheid warrior Bishop David Russell dies at 75
AN anti-apartheid cleric who fought against inequality and injustice for decades and was even placed under house arrest at one point, former Anglican Bishop of Grahamstown David Russell, has died.
Born in 1938, the retired bishop died of cancer in Cape Town on Sunday, aged 75.
Russell, who had the Order of the Baobab in Silver conferred on him by President Jacob Zuma in 2011 for his outstanding contribution to the theological field, was involved in the struggle against apartheid from a young age.
The father of two obtained his first degree from the University of Cape Town (UCT), and then did his master’s degree at Oxford University. He trained for the priesthood at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, England, and later ob- tained his PhD in Religious Studies – specialising in Christian ethics – at UCT.
The veteran priest was a chaplain to migrant workers and from 1975 to 1986 was banned and placed under house arrest by the government.
Ordained in 1965, Russell became the 12th Bishop of Grahamstown in 1987 and retired in 2004.
Archbishop Thabo Makgoba of Cape Town said Russell’s death represented the passing of an era for the church and its prophetic and courageous ministry, especially to the poorest of the poor.
“From the earliest days of his ministry as a priest, he was radical in his identification with the poor and oppressed. Steve Biko, with whom he worked closely, called him ‘a friend, an equal . . . a comrade’.
“In the Eastern Cape in the 1970s, he played an important role in drawing attention to the plight of people who were forcibly removed from their homes under apartheid and dumped to starve in areas, such as Dimbaza, where they had no hope of making a living,” he said.
Makgoba said when the government imposed a banning order on Russell, he defied it in multiple ways to attend a meeting of the church’s provincial synod and to motivate a resolution expressing the church’s understanding of those who had resorted to armed struggle.
“After becoming Bishop of Gra- hamstown, he ordained the first woman priest in southern Africa and repeatedly challenged the church on theological grounds to reverse its opposition to blessing same-sex unions. He also challenged the democratically elected provincial government of the Eastern Cape for its failures in areas such as health and education.”
Russell leaves his wife, Dorothea, and two sons, Sipho and Thabo.