Aggrey Klaaste, former editor of the Sowetan, was laid to rest at the Avalon Cemetery in Soweto on Saturday, SABC radio news reported. Klaaste died of a lung condition last Saturday at the age of 64.
About 2000 people attended his funeral service at the Grace Bible Church in Pimville and, joining family and friends, were former president Nelson Mandela, Sowetan managing director Mike Tisson and chief executive of the Johannesburg Tourism Agency, Deon Viljoen.
In a statement issued earlier Deputy President Jacob Zuma said: ”Dr Klaaste will always be remembered as one of the leading journalists of his era, who played a critical role in the development of African journalism in our country.”
Klaaste was more than just a spectator and recorder of events, Zuma said.
”He was a catalyst for change and a respected community leader who was concerned about the development of society and his country. We have lost one of the most incisive and critical minds of our time, who was concerned about the representation of the life of black people truthfully and in the right perspective in the media.”
Following Klaaste’s death tributes poured in from all over the country from political parties, the SA National Editor’s Forum and even the SA Football Association, for the editor widely credit with the concept of ”nation building”.
Before his death he was involved with work for a hospice for people with HIV/Aids.
He is survived by his wife Pinky, and three sons. ‒ Sapa